Lost
by GoldenIvy
Summary: Sequel to Why Me! Dimitri is lost in a world of misery without the Roza he fell in love with. Rose wanders the world, fruitlessly seeking what she lost. Lissa battles the darkness that threatens her sanity. Will things ever be the same? TERRIBLE summary!
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is! The sequel to Why Me? that I know you've all been looking forward to! **

**WARNING:**** May contain depression from a certain sexy Russian. That's all I'm saying.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own VA. **

**I'll shut up now so you can read **

**DPOV**

It had been exactly one week since Rose had woken up. One week since she lost her memory. One week of sadness and heartbreak.

Rose didn't remember anything. Not even her name. It was complete amnesia. Lissa constantly brought up memories she had of Rose. My favorite was how they had first become friends on the first day of her kindergarten. They were learning how to spell their names. Rose, infuriated with the teacher, had chucked a book at their teacher and called her a fascist bastard. When Lissa started telling stories like this, Rose never spoke. She just shook her head and her eyes widened fearfully.

Adrian never left his room. When he did, he made sure he was so drunk he wouldn't remember it the next morning. He looked worse than Lissa, which meant I probably looked like I'd been through hell and back—twice.

Christian was always with Lissa, rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words to her in her ear. He held her while she cried after Rose rejected yet another memory. He didn't let her see the sadness that filled him when he looked at Rose or me, or the tears I saw glistening in his eyes almost every day. I wasn't jealous of Christian, though. I knew to him, it felt like he had lost a sister.

As for the bond Rose and Lissa shared, it was unclear if it still existed or not. Dr. Olendzki stuck to the theory that Rose was unconsciously blocking it. Lissa was constantly letting her emotions get out of control so she could watch Rose for any sign that she had slipped into Lissa's head. Constantly, she was disappointed.

I didn't say anything to Rose. It would hurt too much to not see the happiness, love, and recognition in her eyes, so I sat in the corner and examined her. For most of the day, she was looking down at her hands. Every so often, she would look at me curiously. When she did, I would shift my eyes away, embarrassed and knowing she was wondering who the hell I was.

"Dimitri, it's almost time for your shift." Alberta's voice came from the doorway. I looked up at her and nodded wordlessly. All the way out the door, I felt Rose's gaze on my back.

"You'll be patrolling the back half of the campus." She told me. I nodded again. "Belikov!" She called after me. I turned. "It's okay to talk and smile you know."

I smiled at her mockingly. "I am smiling and talking."

I patrolled the grounds desperately trying to get Rose out of my head.

The way her eyes would sparkle with love and happiness when she looked at me… Her beautiful laugh that immediately brightened up my day, no matter what kind of mood I was in. Hell, I even missed her annoying, inaccurate nickname for me. Comrade. God, she was so… frustrating. And wonderful. I would give anything to hear her voice, to run my fingers through her long silky hair, to kiss her…

My eyes filled with tears. Clearly, patrol did nothing to distract me. I stopped walking and slid down to the ground. I sighed, my eyes slipping shut.

"Dimitri? Are you okay?" I groaned. Damn. Caught resting on patrol Alberta was going to give me hell. Celeste was in front of me, standing uncertainly. "Alberta sent me to relieve you early." She explained. "Are you okay?"

Smiling tightly, I pushed myself up and off the ground. "I'm fine. Why am I being relieved early?" I asked, to change the subject. The other guardians still didn't know about my relationship with Rose. They all just thought we were really close friends.

Celeste shrugged. "I can't tell you that. She didn't even tell me. But I think you need some rest. No offense, but you look like hell." Yea, sure, way to be subtle, Celeste. Offense taken. "Is it true that Rose lost all of her memory?"

I winced, but did my best to mask my emotions. "Yes," I answered slowly.

"I'm sorry. I now that you two were close," Celeste said awkwardly. I nodded stiffly and walked away as fast as I could.

I awoke the next morning to a frantic banging on my door. Through all the noise, I heard someone screaming my name. They sounded frantic and scared.

"Dimitri! Dimitri, please! Open your door!" Lissa sounded on the verge of tears. Crap. Could my life not be dramatic for two seconds.

Going as fast as I could after just waking up, I wrenched the door open. Lissa pushed past me and looked around frantically.

"Princess, what's wrong?" I asked, totally clueless.

She whirled around to face me and I registered her blotchy, tearstained face and red eyes almost right away.

"Is she here? Oh God, please tell me she's here!" Lissa cried, and more tears ran down her face. I did a quick sweep of my room, just to check. Yup, it was empty, except for us two. What was I supposed to do with the Princess? I had never been good with tears. I decided to try to get some answers before freaking out, like I could feel I was about to do.

"Is who here? What the hell is going on?" I demanded, anxiety running through me.

Lissa let out a small whimper. "Rose. Is Rose here?"

My heart stopped."No," I said briefly. I prayed Lissa was just messing with me and Rose was actually in the hospital, sleeping.

"Lissa!" I turned. Standing in my doorway was a panting and sweaty Christian. He hurried to her side. "Liss, calm down. It's okay."

Shaking, Lissa folded into him. My mind was a blank. Christian met my eyes above Lissa's head. I stared at him, terrified of what he would tell me. "Please don't tell me…" I whispered.

Christian nodded sorrowfully. "She's gone Belikov. She escaped a few hours ago."

**Sooo… How was the first chapter? I know, it's kinda depressing…**

**Reviews would be appreciated :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**So, yea, second chapter is now up! I apologize ahead of time for the lack of happiness and excitement in the beginning of this story. To be honest, I got kind of bored with this story and I lost interest in the story line. But I will not stop writing! I promise. **

**Lol, so I got swamped with emails from you guys… All your alerts, reviews, and favorites… I didn't have a chance to respond to them all**

**Disclaimer: I don't own VA and I still believe these disclaimers are stupid. I mean, what, do they seriously think that we'd be on this site if we owned our own amazing book series? I think not.**

My phone rang. Numbly, I reached for it.

"Belikov," I whispered. Honestly, whispering was the only form of communication I could manage at the moment.

"Dimitri, are you okay?" My brother, Felix's worried voice cut through the static that this crap phone got.

What the-? Why was Felix calling me? "Felix, is that you?" I asked. I kind of felt like I was floating. I could only take so much stress. If my brother was calling to hear about Rose and how it had gone, I might just break down and cry myself to death.

"Yea it's me." Felix took a deep breath. "Are you at St. Vladimir's?" There was a catch in his voice that alerted me to the fact that he might not be calling about Rose, he might be calling because he had a problem in his life.

I pulled myself together as best I could. "Of course. Do you need something?"

"Umm, could you come pick me up? I'm at the airport." Felix asked nervously.

My heart leapt into my throat. What had happened? "Why are you at the airport? Are you alright? Did Asya…" I trailed off, unwilling to ask if something had happened to his girlfriend.

"No, we're both perfectly healthy. Calm down." Felix assured me, though I noted bitterness in his voice when he said they were both fine. To the untrained ear, his voice would sound perfectly normal, but I was trained to hear the subtle differences in a person's voice that hinted to some underlying emotion they wanted to keep shielded.

I softened slightly. "All right. I'll come pick you up. I'll be there in a few hours. Be ready to explain." I warned.

He laughed slightly. "I'll explain if you tell me why you're upset." He replied. Damn it. I had forgotten he'd had the same training I did. Of course he could sense I was upset.

"Fine," I hung up and went to find Alberta. She was in her office, looking over the assessments other teachers had given her for next year's senior class. I stood in her doorway uncomfortably. "Alberta, I need to borrow one of the Academy's cars."

She looked up, shocked. "Dimitri, I know things have been tough on you lately, but you don't have to leave."

"I'm not leaving. I just have something to do." I told her. Did she really believe so little in me, that I was that undedicated to protecting Moroi?

Suspiciously, she examined me. "All right. But where are you going?"

I hadn't told anyone in the U.S. I had a brother. With a quick grin, I tossed my words over my shoulder. "To pick up my little brother."

**RPOV (last night after her escape)**

I fled as quickly as I could from the building that I'd been held in before realizing I didn't know which way to go to escape this place for good.

I was totally lost. I didn't know who I was. I didn't know who anyone in this world was. The only thing I knew was that it hurt the people who had been in my life before I woke up and couldn't remember them, especially the really tall, really hot guy that was always in my room. He tried to hide it, but for some reason I knew exactly how he was feeling. I wished I remembered him because, as I said, he was amazingly hot. And he was a mystery to me. He'd always just sit in the corner and look at me. I had caught him a few times, but he always dropped his gaze before I could get a good look at him. I honestly didn't think he'd said a word since I woke up. All I knew was that his name was Beli-something.

And then there was the blonde girl. From the way she acted and how surprised everyone was that I didn't even remember her, I could guess that we'd been like sisters. As hard as I tried, I couldn't remember anything. Sometimes, I'd get strange emotions go through me that were not related to what I was thinking about. Like once, I felt sadness even though I was wondering if I had a dog. And then, I was imagining how awesome it would be to have a dog when I just got sad all of a sudden. It was weird.

The point was, it was clear I was hurting them all and I didn't like it. I figured that if I ran away, it'd be easier for them to move on and stop hurting, and maybe someday if my memory ever came back, I could visit or return for good. But I knew leaving was the easiest and best thing for me to do. They couldn't move on if I was around, constantly dragging up memories that they knew I didn't have.

I was starting to regret leaving the comfort and familiarity of the hospital room they'd placed me in as I looked around me, hoping for a sign or map. Hell, even a magical arrow would be nice. A noise from behind me startled me into action. I chose a random direction and started running wildly.

After a few minutes, I discovered that I was surrounded by trees. I stopped running. Oddly, even though I was sure I'd been running my hardest for at least ten minutes, I wasn't even out of breath. It was either adrenaline or the old me kept in really good shape. Hesitantly, I moved forward, looking ou for random roots or tree branches that would most likely trip me up.

I saw a clearing ahead of me. Joyfully, I started jogging towards it. When I got closer, I could see a road behind the clearing. A few feet later, the pain started.

**DPOV (yea, I wanted to make this chapter a bit longer so I added another dpov. Be glad!)**

Felix was waiting for me outside the airport. I pulled up and motioned him in.

We drove in silence for a few minutes before Felix spoke. "Thanks for picking me up."

I nodded stoically, determined not to let the stress of the last few weeks show. "You need to explain."

Felix sighed. "As you know, we went to the Royal Court to see if I could be reassigned to Anastasiya. Well, I filled out the appeal, sent it in, and moved in with Asya." He stopped and took another deep breath. "Well, I was training in the gym and Asya—Asya was supposed to be getting a massage, you know in that secret spa getaway or whatever?" I nodded, recalling Rose telling me all about how she got a manicure. Her beautiful brown eyes had been sparkling with happiness, and that in itself had made my day.

"I left the gym early because I wanted to make that bread that Mom always made, you know, the one that you always inhaled?"I let out a low chuckle. I loved that bread. I always ate a whole loaf of it when I came home that Mom had gotten fed up with making it. She gave me the recipe and told me to "make my own damn bread." Felix didn't know that, because he had been with our father at that point, but I was surprised to know he remembered how much I loved that bread.

"I got home and I caught Anastasiya in our apartment. She was with another man." Felix's voice broke and he looked away from me swiftly, looking out the window.

Sympathy laced through me. I couldn't say I was upset that their relationship hadn't worked out though. That Asya… I hadn't liked her. She seemed like a real bitch. I still felt bad for Felix, though.

I decided to voice my thoughts. "Anastasiya was cheating on you? I didn't like her anyway. She was a bitch," I said solemnly.

Felix looked down, avoiding my searching gaze. "Yea," He muttered. Okay, so maybe it was too soon to call his ex-girlfriend a bitch, but it was the way I felt. "So what's your problem Dimitri?"

Deciding to play dumb, I blinked, as if in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'm not stupid. I know something's up. Tell me," He prodded gently.

"There's nothing wrong." For some reason, my voice came out in a broken whisper. I hated emotions, it was official.

Felix looked at me disbelievingly. "Come on! I heard you on the phone. I am not deaf. Tell me what's up." He demanded.

I closed my eyes for an instant, feeling the tears building up and trying to push them back. "It's Rose," I said brokenly.

Felix's eyebrows rose. I could tell he was drawing his own conclusions, but they couldn't be worse than the truth. "Did she cheat on you too?"

I shuddered at the thought of finding out Rose had been with other men. "No!" I practically shouted. That would at least leave a little bit of my heart left, though it would still hurt to know she didn't love me anymore.

"Then what—" He stopped, realization dawning on him. "It didn't work, did it? The healing, I mean. She's dead."

Pain lanced through me. It would probably be better if she was dead. "She isn't dead," I said bitterly.

"Then what's wrong. Is she still asleep?" Felix pressed. After about ten seconds of silence that I was using to try and gather up my courage to respond, he grabbed my arm, hard. "Dimitri. Tell. Me. What's. Going. On. Now." He growled

The tears came sliding down my cheeks now, no matter how hard I tried to repress them. "Rose lost her memory," I whispered, trying to focus on the now-blurry road. Without realizing it, I had slowed to a near-complete stop. It was a really good thing the road back to the academy was practically abandoned. I sped up slightly while simultaneously trying to blink tears out of my eyes. It wasn't working very well, needless to say.

As I sped up, Felix leaned back in his seat. "Well. That explains a lot." The tears came faster now. Nothing I did could stop them. Felix finally noticed I was crying. "Hey, Dimitri, are you okay?" He answered himself a few seconds later. "God, of course you're not. That was a stupid question. Uh, pull over. I'll drive."

I shook my head violently, unable to choke the words out. The road was getting harder and harder to see. Felix sighed and grabbed my arm, jerking the steering wheel and sending the car veering towards the side of the road. "Stop the car. I'm driving while you explain." Deciding it was best not to argue, I pulled the car over and switched seats with Felix. I used the opportunity to wipe most of the tears away, embarrassed.

Once we were back on the road, Felix spoke. "How much of her memory did she lose?"

"All of it." I answered bleakly. "She doesn't even remember that she's a dhampir. Or that her name is Rose." I kept my voice steady.

"Well, it's not so bad. It's probably temporary amnesia." Felix said hopefully. "Maybe there's a trigger—"

I shook my head. "It doesn't even matter." I smiled without humor, giving a dark chuckle. Felix looked at me, shocked by the despair in my voice. Hell, it kind of shocked me. "She ran away last night. She fucking ran away." I slammed my hand on the dashboard. My hand slammed through the vent, plastic piercing my skin. Hissing in pain, I withdrew my hand. "God damn it!" I swore angrily.

Felix continued to drive, seemingly unfazed by my uncharacteristic outburst. "Rose is smart. She'll find her way back to you," He said softly

I pressed a napkin to my bleeding hand. "How do you know?" There was a plaintive note in my voice that made me sound like a two-year old desperately seeking reassurance that Santa Claus existed.

"Because she's Rose." He answered, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "She will always find a way back to you—you and Lissa. How could she not?"

For one moment, I allowed myself to believe that everything would work out. "Thanks Felix,"

"Mmm, don't thank me just yet." He answered.

"Why not?"

"I have no idea where the hell we are. I think we're lost."

**Yaaay! I brought Felix back! I decided I didn't want him to be such a small part of the story. Isn't he sweet? I love him :D**

**And yes, I made this chapter a bit longer to make up for the lack of enthusiasm in this story. I know it probably reflects on my writing, that I kinda lost interest, so I brought Felix back and made this chapter longer… I'm just in a slump… I'll get over it soon :)**

**Oh yeah, and a lot of you wanted Rose to get her memory back, I know… But she doesn't get it back for a bit, so sit back and enjoy the ride!**

**Review! Por favor**


	3. Chapter 3

**Next chapter is up! Excited? You should be, cuz I am! I took a little break in between writing this chapter and last chapter, though you don't know that, considering these chapters are all pre-written. But yea, after I finally came back to this story, I realized that I seriously loved this story. I love writing it and I love that I was actually creative enough to come up with a fanfiction. And I love reading all the reviews and encouragement you guys give me. I love you all! **

**Oh, and one of my anonymous reviewers, FREEDOMWRITER: I won't stop writing and THANK YOU for stopping packing to read my story. :D**

**Thanks to iowndimitri, who read Why Me? four times AND was my 400****th**** reviewer for that story!**

**RPOV**

I fell to the ground, clutching my head, whimpering in pain. It felt like it was going to explode—literally. All around me, I caught glimpses of black spots and shadows dancing and glimmering. Trying to ignore the blinding pain, I staggered to my feet.

I took in my surroundings. What I had thought was a clearing turned out to be a ditch on the side of an abandoned road. Behind me, there was the forest that I had just come from—and my old school, according to everyone that had tried to have a conversation with me. I knew turning back was not an option at this point.

I looked to the right and the left. Nothing but darkness on both sides. Something white flitted by me out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around, expecting to see a car's headlights emerging from the darkness. There was nothing there. My stomach twisted into nervous knots as my headache increased. Something flashed by again

I spun around. And screamed.

**DPOV (I know, I'm evil right?)**

"Felix!" Lissa squealed happily. She gave him a hug and turned to me. Her eyes sparkled and she looked happy—happier than I'd seen her in weeks. "Dimitri, you could've told him you were going to pick him up! We could've gone with you!" She chastised, but I could tell she didn't mean it. She was ridiculously happy to have Felix here.

I shrugged and hid a smile at her obvious delight. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

Christian smiled, a genuine smile that was so rare for him, and shook Felix's hand. "Not that I'm complaining about having my other guardian here with me, but why are you here? Did your request not go through?" That was Christian for you. Right to the point. No beating around the bush here.

Felix's smile faded and his shoulders slumped slightly. I think I was the only one who noticed the sadness and pain in his eyes. He hid it well. "Anastasiya was cheating on me," He mumbled.

Biting my lip, I looked at Lissa for her reaction. I knew how unstable she was and I hoped this didn't send her over the edge. Rage shot across her features. Oh, crap. "That little bitch! I'm gonna get her in a lot of trouble. Nobody messes with the Dragomir princess or her friends!" Her eyes blazed.

Felix stepped back, looking confused and alarmed. I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "It's the darkness. And Rose isn't here to take it away from her." I watched Lissa, tense, waiting for her to act out violently like Rose did when the darkness affected her.

Lissa's green eyes were dark, almost black with fury. Her hands clenched into fists and she was shaking, ready to kill someone. If there was one word to describe Lissa, it would be 'angel'. She was good and pure, always acting to help others. Now, though, she looked like an avenging angel from hell, seeking for poor souls to take back with her. Honestly, it kind of scared me. However, looking at her saddened me. She reminded me of my Roza, the night before the first attack and how terrified I'd been when I thought I'd lost her to spirit. But with these painful memories came the feelings of bliss and love I'd felt for Rose the rest of the night in the cabin. That…That had been the best night of my life without a doubt. Tears threatened my vision as I was brought back to reality.

Christian was wrestling with the Princess. "Belikov!" He shouted at me. "Help me, will you? I can't hold her down!"

Felix hesitated and looked at me briefly before turning back to Christian. "Dimitri go get some rest. I'll help Christian."

I nodded numbly. Felix picked up Lissa and carried her away fireman-style while she was kicking, screaming, and clawing at his back.

Panting, Christian stood up. Feeling his eyes zero in on me, I sensed his worry for me. It was weird, especially since we weren't particularly close. "Dimitri-" He started.

"I'm going to get some rest, Lord Ozera." I interrupted, slipping back into my formal routine that bothered Rose so much. I honestly didn't think I could handle any more emotions. "Come see me once the Princess had calmed down." My guardian mask slammed into place next. This also bugged Rose, but it had been drilled into me. As a guardian, I wasn't allowed to show emotion. From Christian's face, he wasn't a big fan of it either.

"Dimitri-" Christian tried again.

"Goodbye, Lord Ozera. I hope to see you again soon." I said robotically. As I walked off, I suddenly realized that Christian could have called me back if he wanted to, and since I was his guardian, I'd have to obey. I felt a rush of gratitude that he hadn't decided to use his Royal authority.

Collapsing onto my bed, I tried to sort through my mixed-up mind. It seemed incredible to me that one girl could do so much to me in just a short amount of time. Had it really only been a little over 10 months (a/n: I have no idea how long it actually was) since I'd brought Rose and Lissa back to the academy? It felt like a lifetime ago and it was clear that my life had changed drastically. In that time Rose had been in my life, I had fallen in love with her and grown very attached. I didn't think there was any way I could ever move on from her. I couldn't live without her.

I pushed myself off my bed, determination coursing through me. I had to find Rose, even if it was the lst thing I'd ever do.

I opened my door and received a surprise. "Alberta!"

The head guardian at St. Vlad's strode into my room, worry lining her face. "We may have a problem. No, we definitely have a problem."

**Chapter three is COMPLETE! Looking at my notes (yes, I have notes. I have this whole series mapped out! And that's not lame.) I'm thinking this one's gonna be really long… I'm on the 21****st**** chapter and I'm only like halfway done, and suffering from some minor writer's block…**

**Review, because your reviews encourage me and help me beat the writer's block!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews! They really do mean a lot to me! And I am sorry for the cliffhangers last chapter. **

**Guess what? TODAY IS MY FIRST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL! Wish me luck! I'm so excited!**

**Shout-outs for last chapter's reviews: **

**EMMA LU,**** who said she'd buy my book if I ever wrote one, thank you sooo much! Ily 3**

**ANNIKA TAYLOR****, who updated Saving Grace just for me AND wished me luck. Guys, go read her stories! ALL of them. They're amazing, much better than mine :) **

**LISSA, **** whose first review made me laugh. I'm glad you're psyched about Rose losing her memory, but Dimitri is MINE! Jk, I don't own him. I wish I did though… Tell me your name and I might add you in for Adrian though… And your second review: who said anything about Strigoi? ;) **

**A PERSON WHO LOVES BOOKS, you should love me and beg me to write more. Remember, killing me isn't healthy for me :D And I'll get started on that book of yarn right away. JK! I know next to nothing about yarn. But I won't stop writing. And I feel very lucky ;)**

**PAVNEET (geez, these last three have been anonymous reviewers… are you guys all the same person just reviewing under different names?) Hopefully one day, I'll publish a book ;)**

**THANK YOU GUYS! Those people I didn't respond to, I'm sooo sorry! :/ I was swamped with last-minute school things yesterday, but I did what I could! And to my anonymous reviewers, YOU GUYS ROCK! Though I'm starting to think you're all the same person… But you can review all you guys want :D**

**RPOV (GO BACK AND READ MY AN IF YOU DIDN"T!)**

Pale, ghostly shapes flitted around me. My breathing picked up as they floated closer. They looked like people—but they were too pale. They looked like old photographs that had been left out in the sun for too long. They all were staring at me, despair in their eyes, but also something like curiosity.

Some of the figures had strong, lean builds that reminded me of the man in my room and the men I'd seen occasionally walking past my window. There were also a few children, dark stains on their neck. It took me a while to realize that the stains were blood. The sight of their faces stirred up feelings of fear and I felt like some great injustice had been done to me. Staring at their pale faces, I was overwhelmed by voices.

"This changes everything, doesn't it?" I heard my voice whisper. I sounded small and scared and vulnerable.

A man's deep voice was the next thing I heard."Yeah. It does," His voice was grim. His face flashed into my mind. IT was the guy from my room! Excitement rose up in me. Now I had some knowledge about my past life. We had obviously been close before whatever had caused my amnesia. I knew he was way older than me, so it hadn't been romantic, ugh. That would be just wrong.

I blinked, slightly startled by the memory. "Hey," I called out softly to the children. "Are you—are you okay? What happened to your neck?" The children stared at me sadly, their mouths moving in silence. They and the other people drifted closer. Panicking, I turned and started to run as fast as I humanly could.

They were all around me, trapping me in a giant circle. I shrieked and clawed at their reaching hands. "Make them go away!" I sobbed, praying that someone would hear me and help. I would settle for that ditzy blonde chick from the hospital place right now. "Go away! Help! Please, someone, make it stop!" I screamed. I was pleading and sobbing, my breath coming out in ragged gasps.

I went backwards, desperately trying to avoid the people. Stumbling and falling, I gasped and choked on dirt that entered my mouth, nose and eyes.

I scrambled to my feet, rubbing my eyes blindly. My arm brushed against something. Reacting instinctively, I jerked back and crouched in a defensive position.

Though my vision was hazy and blurred, I was able to make out the shapes of a man and a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. Even though the rest of them was pale, their eyes glowed brightly, reminding me of the girl back where I'd just come from. I felt a small spark of recognition, but I couldn't quite place who they were. I didn't want to waste time trying to figure it out. Right now, I just wanted to get away from this hellish place.

The woman reached for me, her expression sad and slightly disapproving. _You need to come back with us. You belong with us. _His expression seemed to say.

"Get away from me!" I screaming, tears streaming down my face. I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

The woman reached out even farther and, somehow, even though I was doing my best to avoid her, she grabbed my wrist.

Her grip was light and airy, but try as I might, I couldn't break free. I was surrounded by them on all sides. Steadily, they propelled me forward towards a dark patch that was steadily growing. I screamed and thrashed around, my mind blank with terror and panic. The patch of shimmering blackness drew closer, increasing my panic.

"Let me go!" I begged. "Please! I don't even know you people!" My pleas were met with a quickening in pace. The woman yanked on my arm, propelling me forward. I stumbled a few feet. The ghostly people hung back now, just watching me.

Confused, I turned to the man and the woman. "I don't understand! What the hell do you want from me?" I shrieked at them.

They just stared dully back at me before beckoning. I laughed out loud. It was a panicked, slightly hysterical laugh. "Are you out of your fucking mind? No way in hell am I coming anywhere near you!"

Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the patch of darkness next to them. It had grown and now resembled a large, dark cave.

I felt an urge to go into it, an urge I'd never felt before. The longing was almost irresistible, I felt like in that cave, lay my true home. It was an urge to finally explore and be with people like me, people who had…

_People who had moved on, were no longer living. _The words sprang unbidden to my mind. _People who have died, who can never fully be a part of the living world. _

Startled, I snapped out of my reverie and realized that I had unknowingly moved closer to the darkness. I was now only feet from the entrance.

I tried to step back, but something held my feet in place. Instead, I felt myself being pushed yet again by one of the pale people behind me.

I fell, shrieking and screaming, into the darkness as my own terror consumed me.

**DPOV (I know, I'm evil, right?)**

I mentally steeled myself for more bad news. "What is it Guardian Petrov?" I asked wearily.

Alberta sighed. "Is your brother at the academy right now?"

I frowned. What did Felix have to do with anything? He had just gotten here. There was no way that he'd already gotten into trouble with Kirova or the head guardian. "Yea," I said slowly.

"Good. There's a situation. Get him, then come to the infirmary. There's someone who needs to see you two."

"Who?" I questioned. As far as I knew, no one other than Rose, Lissa, Christian, Adrian, Abe, Alberta, and my family knew Felix was my brother.

Alberta shrugged and refused to meet my eyes. That was my first clue she knew more than she was letting ON.

"Alberta," I said firmly. "I am not leaving this room until you tell me everything you know about whoever wants to chat with me and Felix." My little brother had been through enough. He didn't need any more surprises.

She looked up and glared at me. I folded my arms over my chest and waited. She stayed quiet. I raised one eyebrow and sighed impatiently, letting her know I was waiting for her to explain.

Finally, Alberta broke. "I honestly don't know who he is. Well, I mean, I know who he says he is, but either way, I don't have a name for you."

"Well, who does he say he is?" I pressed.

Alberta's features transformed into sympathy and regret for a few quick moments. Then her guardian training kicked in and she became the brisk, business-like Alberta I knew so well. "He says he's your father," She said quietly.

I kept all emotions off my face. "My father?" I asked in an even voice.

Alberta nodded. "He arrived maybe twenty minutes ago smelling like alcohol and has been causing trouble for all the guardians and Kirova. He demands to speak with his sons. He named you two by names. I think he's drunk though," As guardians, we were trained to protect Moroi and not judge them, but it was clear Alberta was struggling to keep the disgust off her face.

Inwardly, I groaned. Could nothing go right in my life? "All right," I said. "I'll get Felix and we'll get everything sorted out."

Alberta nodded and turned and strode off.

I jogged across the school grounds. When I got to Felix's dorm room, I hesitated. What I was about to do could seriously hurt Felix. But I couldn't face my darling daddy alone.

**And in case you didn't catch it, the children were the children from the Badica attack in the beginning of Frostbite :)**

**Well, that's it. Now it's time for you to review, and if you have any funny high school stories, feel free to share them with me :D **


	5. Chapter 5

**The next chapter of this story is now posted for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! **

**PEGGY: Rose is just a guardian. I know that to her friends and everyone (and me) she is very important, but in the grand scheme of things, she is just a guardian and therefore resources should not be wasted looking for her.**

**NADIA CALLANAN: I warned you guys it would be depressing and not the same mood and style as Why Me?**

**PAVNEET: good luck on Monday! It's really not all that horrible. If I can get around my two mile long school and only get lost once or twice, you'll be fine! ;) Try to avoid big crowds… You tend to get jostled around and that's what got me lost in the first place. Thanks for reviewing! :D**

**Disclaimer (Hehe, I totally forgot about this): I don't own VA and if I did, then I'd have a sexy Russian boyfriend who never turned Strigoi in the first place because now he thinks that love fades. TRUE LOVE NEVER FADES, YOU DUMMY!**

**RPOV**

I woke up to the sensation of someone shaking me.

"Rose, Rose. Wake up. You're safe now." Someone whispered in my ear. I groaned at his familiar voice and rolled onto my side. Why did he have to bug me? I was enjoying my rest.

"Go away Mason. I need my beauty rest." I murmured. Laughter cut through my drowsiness. I shot up as memories flooded through me.

"Good to know that you remember me Rosie," Mason chuckled lightly, using my childhood nickname. I slapped him on the arm.

"Don't call me that," I growled, scrambling to my feet. Warily, I examined my surroundings. I was in a field of sorts, it appeared. All around me, long grass danced and swayed to the winds, however it seems that Mason and I were standing in a clearing. It was circular, about ten feet wide and the grass wasn't long here. It was mowed to perfection. It was so utterly peaceful, even with the wind. Actually, the wind acted as a breeze that cooled and calmed you on a hot day. It was slightly creepy, though.

"As far as dreams go," I mused, looking up at the starry sky. "this is a pretty detailed, yet weird one, I have to say." I had no doubt that this was a dream. How else could Mason possibly be standing in front of me? He had died in Spokane.

Mason's smile faded. "You think this is a dream?" He sounded hurt. I frowned, confused. What was Mason saying?

"Well, yea. I mean, how else could you be standing in front of me, talking to me? You're dead." I said it bluntly, assuming that he wouldn't get upset or offended.

"Yes, I am very much dead, thank you for pointing that out. But even if I am dead, this—this is no dream. This is reality, Rose." Mason said softly. "I don't know how or why, but you're here. What's the last thing you remember?"

"The Strigoi attack on the school…" I trailed off. "Oh my God! Is Dimitri okay, I have to wake up and make sure!" I shrieked, before attacking my arm with my hand. I pinched my arm hard.

"Rose! This is real, I already told you that!" Mason grabbed my hand to prevent me from pinching myself again. He gazed at me pleadingly, silently asked me to remember. To remember what? Wide-eyed, I stared back at him in confusion. Then it came to me.

I groaned, smacking my forehead with my free hand. "I'm dead, aren't I. The stupid Strigoi killed me, right? Crap, this is going to destroy Liss. Shit."

Mason's eyes widened considerably. "You remember Lissa?" He asked excitedly. "That's a good sign!"

"Of course I remember Lissa!" I snapped. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you on crack or something? Why wouldn't I remember?"

Mason ignored my little rant and stared at me intently. "Rose." I stiffened. "Try to remember everything. Search your mind." Intently, his eyes bore into me, as if he believed he could will the answers to me. Frowning, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate.

Memories flooded through me. I gasped as they flew by. So much pain… so many colors. My head started pounding. I fell to my knees, gasping, and still the memories came, relentless.

"STOP!" The word flew out of me and everything came to a screeching halt.

"Rose!" Mason was suddenly on the ground in front of me, gripping my shoulders. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Breathing hard, I pushed him away. I remembered everything now. I remembered being in Lissa's head, then losing my memory. Then… then I remembered the ghosts. They had swarmed around me, reaching for me, demanding I come back with them, where I belonged. It was just like the time we were on the plane after Victor's trial, except this time there had been nothing to stop them from taking me.

"Mase, what is this place? What's going on?" My voice sounded small and scared. I dreaded his answer, fearing he would tell me that the ghosts had dragged me to the afterlife and I would never be able to return.

"Hell if I know." Mason shrugged. "I was watching you, and then everything went dark. A few minutes later, I was sucked here by something and then you showed up."

"I remember the ghosts dragging me here. Am I dead?" I stumbled over the word 'dead', making it clear I was afraid of the answer.

Mason opened his mouth to reply, but someone beat him to it. A jolt of shock and happiness went through me at their voice.

"Rosemarie Hathaway. It's nice to see you again."

**Yea, this chapter is short. But the next one is pretty long. Originally, I had this one and the next one combined, but it was too long so I cut it here. I'll give you virtual brownies if you can guess who the mystery person in the meadow with Rose is. **

**Nah, brownies are lame. I'll give you an **EXCERPT **if you can guess it :) When I get home from school…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so you guys are awesome reviewers. I really appreciate them. **

**Oh, and SHELBY: I'll see what I can do ;) Adrian does need a happy ending too… And doing backflips off a canyon? That sounds like FUN! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. I'm too tired to be funny right now.**

"Eric!" I screeched happily. Yes, he had a voice that I would know anywhere. He was Eric Dragomir, Lissa's father and the only father-like figure I had in my life to look up to. Standing next to him was Lissa's mother and his wife, Diana Dragomir.

"Rose, there is not a second to lose." Diana said seriously while Eric grinned and waved to me. "You are not dead, but you are in between worlds."

I gave her a brief smile. "Where exactly is that?"

"Welcome to the Shadowlands, Rose." Eric said grimly, no longer smiling. I looked around and shivered. Suddenly, the field didn't seem quite as peaceful to me. I kept imagining lost and tortured invisible spirits wandering around, crying out for someone, anyone, to hear them and help them. As if on cue, the wind began blowing, rustling the grass and lifting my hair from my shoulders.

"If I'm not dead, then why am I here?" I gestured around. Now, I was pretty sure I was dreaming and I was just waiting for the insane reason on why I was here. Maybe the dancing peanuts needed a leader or something.

"We had to bring you here." Eric answered. That was a totally vague and not helpful in any way.

Mason voiced my thoughts. "Give us straight-up answers, would you? Why did you have to bring Rose here?" He glared at them.

"It was experimental." Diana explained. "I don't know about you, but it seemed pretty clear to us that she needed help."

"Um, excuse me, but how is scaring me to death productive in any way?" I asked, bemused.

"As Diana said, it was total guesswork on our part. Nothing like this has ever happened to a shadow-kissed dhampir—at least, not recently enough for us to know about it."Tom said, looking very of himself. I was still totally confused.

"What, losing all my memory after being trapped in my best friend's body? Oh, that's wonderful! I feel soo special!"I said, sarcasm thick in my voice.

"I don't mean it like that. It's not exactly common, your situation. I am merely proud that we pulled this off without a hitch."

I threw up my hands. "Whatever, I don't really care at this point! Just explain to me what the fuck is going on! Starting with when I got stuck in Lissa's body." I crossed my arms and stared at them defiantly. Next to me, Mason snickered softly.

Diana hesitated. "You got a part explanation while you were in the living world. But here's the straight-up truth. When the Strigoi was about to bite you, Lissa was watching, right?" I nodded a confirmation. "And, as you know, you get sucked into her head when her emotions are running high. Usually, you are able to block her out, but the Strigoi attack took up all your concentration. Lissa's emotions caught you at just the right moment, when your guard was down. Her fear was so intense when she saw you pinned down by the Strigoi that you were sucked into her body—your spirit or soul or whatever you want to call it, was. Somehow, this part of you knew something was wrong with your body and took over Lissa's instead. Since Lissa's always been a bit shy, it wasn't hard."

"When you woke up, you were able to stay in Lissa's body consciously." Eric finished for Diana. Quietly, I sat down, trying to absorb all this information.

After a few seconds, Mason and the Dragomirs sat down next to me. Mason looked a bit shell-shocked, confirming my earlier theory that he had no idea what was going on and why all this stuff had happened to me.

Another minute passed in silence before I finally nodded slowly and exhaled. "That makes sense, I guess."

Satisfied by my response, Diana looked at Eric, who nodded. She started talking again.

"Since this has never happened before, it's hard to tell you exactly why you lost your memory. Our theory is that the Spirit World was unwilling to let you go a second time. Because of this, you lost something in the process of escaping death—your memory. If this were to happen to another shadow-kissed dhampir, there's no telling what would happen. Chances are, they too would lose something, though it might not be their memory. It might be their vision or speech or something else. There's also no guarantee that whatever they lost would come back. That's why we had to bring you here. We had to try.

"When you lost your memory, we panicked. We didn't know what to do, or if it was possible to help you. Then, we realized that you had absolutely no memory, which meant that you wouldn't be there to protect Lissa. You losing your memory would destroy a lot of people, Rose. If your memory never returned and you ran away, Lissa would spiral into a terrible depression, probably worse than her last one and spirit would begin to drive her crazy." I winced; Diana's words were simply a reminder that I was just a dhampir that was supposed to be completely dedicated to my Moroi. Whatever happened to me didn't matter, as long as Lissa was safe. In her words, I also heard the common royal Moroi ignorance of dhampirs' emotions. The royal Moroi treated dhampirs like lowly servants, like our lives were meaningless. Half the time, they weren't even aware they were doing it.

"You'd also destroy Adrian. When you first lost your memory, the boy was drinking himself into oblivion. If you don't go back to the academy, someone is going to lock him up for being crazy and an alcoholic. Not even the Queen can save him from himself when it comes right down to it. And then there's Dimitri. He's heartbroken, completely shattered. It's obvious, no matter how much he tries to hide it. He would keep his emotions bottled up inside. Not talking to anyone will drive him to the brink of craziness. He'd probably resign from being a guardian." Diana sounded so nonchalant about how much I could hurt those I loved. Every word, especially hearing about Dimitri, created a painful feeling in my chest that made it hard to breath.

I blinked rapidly and swallowed back my tears. Mason's hand slid into mine. I started, surprised by how cold he was, but relaxed a few moments later.

Eric started talking next. "Naturally, we couldn't let that happen, especially not to Lissa. We had to try something. But the wards were up. Try as we might, we couldn't break through to reach you. Then you simplified things by escaping. Diana came up with the idea of dragging you here to try to explain everything and see if you'd remember.

"That's great, but why the hell did you bring me here?" Mason interrupted.

"Eric thought having an old friend here would help jog Rose's memory. You were aware that she lost her memory so we just brought you here then got Rose."

Mason nodded shortly, and Eric resumed talking. "We gathered up ghosts that we knew were connected to you in some way, hoping that seeing them would help you remember. We wanted you to remember when you first saw us, but since that didn't work; we had to drag you here. Andre pulled up the portal, but it took up a lot of his energy holding it for so long. That's why he's not here now. It took even more energy to actually grab you and pull you through. Most of the ghosts ran out of energy. When that happened, they were pulled back to the Spirit World to rejuvenate. And even now, there's no guarantee that you'll actually remember when you get back."

I looked around. "Okay, great, I'm here and I remember. But how do I get back to see if I will remember in the living world?"

"We just pull up the same type of portal that we used to pull you here and you'll go through it. Since we're in the Spirit World—or, at least, close to it—it won't take up nearly as much energy, which means we should be able to send you to the nearest town so you can use a pay phone to contact the academy. Unless you'd rather we just dropped you where we found with the promise not to bother you." Diana looked at me expectantly.

"Uh, yea, I'd prefer that you just let me go back to where I started. If this didn't work, I'd rather not wake up in a strange place." I said dryly. "Is this the actual Spirit World?" Somehow, I'd imagined it to be a gloomier place, with spirits wandering around. At the very least, I'd expected to see everything I'd ever wanted.

Diana wrinkled her nose distastefully, looking around. "This boring place? Definitely not. This is more of an in-between field place where spirits stay while they still have unfinished business on earth. Occasionally, someone will get pulled here if there is something on earth that involves them or someone they were really close to on earth. If there is something that does not directly involve them, they can choose to stay here." Diana exchanged a look with Eric then turned back to me. "We will not be staying here. If we want to keep the spirits at bay, we must stay in the actual Spirit World. But, ah, Mason—" She turned to him hopefully.

Mason smirked. "Nothing could keep me away. I didn't even know it was possible to stay here. Or I probably would have, after my 40 days were up. And I assume you want me to keep an eye on Rosie-posie and keep you up to date?"

I smacked him for the rosie-posie comment. "Yes, we would appreciate it." Eric answered.

"And the bond—do Lissa and I still have share it?" I asked breathlessly. I was almost afraid of the answer. I didn't know what I would do if I couldn't use the bond to suck the darkness from Lissa. I'd probably drive myself crazy just watching her go crazy.

Eric looked regretful. "I wish I could reassure you that your bond is still intact, but I can't. It might have strengthened, it might have disappeared, it might have become two-way, or it might have stayed exactly the same. The truth is, I just don't know. I'm thinking it's still intact though. I _hope _it is."

Mason squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Hey, whatever happens, you and Liss will be okay." I gave him a grateful smile.

"It's time for us to send you back." Diana interjected smoothly. "You can't stay here too long. Part of the weirdness of this place is its attraction to mortals. If you stay here too long, you'll become attached and never want to leave."

Mason pulled me into a hug. "Good luck Rose. Be careful," He whispered in my ear. I hugged him harder. I'd missed Mason a lot more than I'd realized.

Feeling my throat close, I stepped away from Mason and looked to Eric. "Okay," I whispered. "Let's do this."

Eric nodded, not saying anything for once. Perhaps he had sensed the sadness in my voice. I didn't want to leave Mason. I'd done it once before and it had practically ripped my heart out. Mason reached for my hand. Obviously, he still liked me, though he had to know that I was with Dimitri. "Will she ever be able to come back?" He asked, desperation in his voice.

I looked at Eric hopefully. Clearly, Mason and I needed to talk. Even if he was dead, I hated leaving him thinking we had ever had something. I regretted leading him on when he was alive and I needed to apologize and tell him there had been nothing between us, ever.

"It's risky to bring Rose back here; if she grows too attached, she'll refuse to leave. But maybe you could bring her back, if it's only for a little bit." Eric said doubtfully.

Mason nodded and fell silent. I fiddled nervously with my hair. "So, how exactly is this portal thing gonna work again?" I asked

"Well, when you wake up, you'll be back where you were when we pulled you here, as you requested." Diana grimaced at this, even though she knew I'd be able to get back to the academy faster that way. I was like a daughter to her, as she always had said before the car crash, and she wanted me to be safe, even if it meant getting back to Lissa later than planned.

Bouncing with nervous energy, I turned to Eric. "Okay. I'm ready." He nodded solemnly and clasped Diana's hand. I turned to Mason. "Bye, Mase," I said.

He gave me a small, tired smile as if he could sense my regret. "Tell Eddie I said hi and that he should just ask Mia out already," I must have looked shocked because Mason laughed. "That's exactly what I thought when Eddie told me he liked her."

"Rose," Eric's low voice cut through our conversation. "the portal is up," I turned to face him and gasped. I hadn't gotten a clear look at the portal in the living world; it had been more like a hazy picture. Now, though, every detail was perfectly clear. It looked like a giant black doorway. It shimmered and black smoke curled off of it, giving it an aura of mystery and spookiness. To be honest, it kind of scared me.

I pushed my fears to the back of my mind. "Thanks for everything. I'll do whatever is in my power to protect Lissa." I promised Diana. Not waiting for their response, I pushed myself forward into the icy black portal. For the second time that day, I was engulfed by shadows and everything faded from my senses.

**Well, yea… Rose** **went to the Shadow Lands. And NO, this is not going to turn into one of those fics where Rose becomes a warrior of death and all that stuff. If you're disappointed by that, go read Kaiai's stories. They're awesome!**

**I still have yet to decide if Rose should go back and talk to Mason or not… I dunno… The way this story is playing out, I might just take Mason out of the equation forever… Nope never mind. I just came up with a way to get him back into the story in about 15 chapters :) (yea, this story will be onger than I originally thought)**

**The action starts soon, folks! **

**ReVieW! **


	7. Chapter 7

**So I think it's time to pay darling Dimka a visit, don't you? **

**Disclaimer: My birth certificate clearly states my name (which I refuse to post on the internet.  
Sorry, stalkers!) and it's not Richelle Mead. Therefore I DO NOT own VA… though I wish I did…**

**Let's see what's going on inside that sexy Russian's head, shall we?**

**DPOV (in case you didn't read my a/n, which I reeeeaaallly wish you would. There's some important stuff in those sometimes, just not today… Just sayin'….)**

I strode through the garden, not pausing to wait for Felix to catch up with me.

"Dimitri, what the hell is going on?" Felix grabbed my arm and twisted. Instinctively, I twirled around to avoid hurting my arm, and wrenched myself free of Felix's grasp. I crouched down in a defensive position, only relaxing when Felix raised his hands in surrender.

"Don't do that!" I hissed at him angrily. I wasn't angry at him in particular; I was just on edge because, frankly, my life sucked. The love of my life was MIA, not that it mattered because she didn't know who I was anyway, and now my drunken, abusive father had just shown up in my life again and was demanding to see me and my brother, whom he had kidnapped years ago. At many points over the past few weeks, I felt like a time bomb, ready to explode at the smallest thing. Felix twisting my arm was that thing and every second, I felt myself inching that much closer to the very edge.

Felix took in my furious face and sighed. "Sorry, but it was the only way I could get you to actually listen. Why the hell did you just drag me out of my room with barely any explanation?"

I was fighting with myself. I was afraid to tell him because he might refuse to help me deal with Daddy dearest, but I also knew he deserved to know. I clenched my jaw tight. He needed to be prepared.

"Dimitri? I am not taking another step until you explain." Felix looked defiant, with his arms crossed over his chest. But I saw that it pained him to defy me, his superior and his older brother, who he knew was in a fragile state right now. Yet I also saw the same resolve I had when it came to Rose and my job. As much as it had pained me, I had pushed Rose away because it was the right thing to do. Felix knew he was hurting me, but he also knew he deserved an explanation. So he stayed strong. Damn that trait. Damn it to hell.

"Okay, fine," I looked him straight in the eye. He wanted the truth; there was no point beating around the bush. I used bluntness. "Our 'dad' is here, at the academy. He's demanding to see us and generally making a nuisance of himself. From what I gathered, he's drunk." Felix seemed frozen, lost in his own hellish memories. I knew that he was on the verge of running. "Please, Felix. I can't do this alone." I gazed at him, willing him to understand.

He swallowed hard. "Dimitri, I—you can't seriously expect me to confront him. It's too soon." Sheer terror shone in his face. Looking at him and seeing his fear, I felt sick to my stomach. What was wrong with me? This man I was about to see had tortured Felix almost every day for over ten years. Of course Felix couldn't face him.

Ashamed of myself for even thinking Felix was ready for that, I turned my head to the side so he couldn't see me. "Of course not," I mumbled. "Go back to your room, Felix. I'll tell you about it later." I closed my eyes, waiting to hear his footsteps fade away, waiting until I was alone to freak out.

Felix hesitated. "Dimitri, I'm sorry. I'm just not prepared, or ready, to see—"

My spine stiffened and I whirled on him. "Just go! Get the fuck out of here! Leave me alone, dammit!" For some reason, his statement about not being prepared or ready had made me explode. The control  
I worked so hard to achieve and maintain was gone, baby, gone and as I sat there, staring at Felix and fuming, a memory shone out in my mind. It was of me and Rose, training just before winter break at the ski lodge.

I had just seen her black eye, the one her mother had given her, and that had made me angry, but then Rose had started acting like a petty child. I let my control slip for just one moment, and in that moment, I'd pinned her to the wall. I remember thinking, _I hope I didn't hurt her, _and then, my Roza had kissed me. And I'd been totally and completely blissed out—until I remembered who we were and why us kissing was wrong. I'd broken off our kiss, regretting it almost instantly. Rose had started lecturing me about my "Zen" lessons and I'd gotten worked up all over again. It had taken a tremendous amount of effort to walk away from her without punching something.

I realized I was past that point. Now, I was literally shaking with suppressed emotion. If Felix didn't leave soon, I was going to do something I'd seriously regret later. I tried to calm myself down, at least enough to keep me from totally cracking until Felix left.

"Go. Now," I said, my voice ragged.

Felix was staring at me as if he'd never seen me before. Then his training kicked in. "As you wish, Guardian Belikov," He said stiffly. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming. I hated it when people were formal when there was no reason to be.

When Felix was out of sight, I turned and promptly punched a tree. Of course, pain shot up my arm almost instantaneously, causing me to swear and sink to the ground. I cradled my hand gently and tried to see if anything was broken. It was bloody already and I would have bet half of my next paycheck that the bones in my hand were shattered. It hurt like hell; Lissa would have to heal me later. I was happy to see that the tree had not escaped unscathed. There was now a hole the size of my fist in the bark and a lot of the remaining bark had splintered, barely hanging on to the tree.

My anger at the world not yet spent, I picked up one of the larger pieces of bark and chucked it as far as I could. I watched in satisfaction as it sailed through the air, disappearing into the woods. Before continuing on to the infirmary, I counted to 10 and felt the rest of my anger drain out of me.

**I know, weird place to stop. But I think you guys can deal. Next chapter, we get to meet Dimitri's dad, whooo! Yea, it's not all that awesome. Dimitri's dad is AWFUL! I hate his dad! I wanted to punch him while I was writing the next chapter! I threw a pillow at my brother instead cuz he started reading over my shoulder and told me I was messed up because this was just so freaking depressing**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hellllooooooooo my wonderful readers who will probably kill me, but I hope not, because that would be bad for my health…**

**The reason you might kill me? No Rose in this chapter… Yep, I'm making you guys wait another chapter before we find out if Rose has her memory back or not…. Remember, killing the author is not recommended…**

**DPOV**

When I reached the infirmary, Alberta was waiting outside for me, looking anxious. As soon as she saw me, she grabbed my hand and started to lead me through the infirmary to the back, where there was an abandoned hallway. It took me a few seconds of mind-blowing pain for me to realize that Alberta had, of course, grabbed the hand I'd pulverized. It took everything I had not to jerk away from her and shriek like a little girl. I'd done something like that when I was just starting out as a guardian and was told it made me sound a little gay.

"Belikov, it took you—why is my hand wet?" Alberta changed subjects midway through her sentence, staring at her hand with a very freaked out expression. Since it was dark, she couldn't tell that her hand was dark with _my _hand's blood.

I grimaced a little, both at the pain and the fact that my blood was now staining Alberta's skin. "That would be my blood." I said apologetically, and then braced myself.

As expected, Alberta pretty much freaked out. She waved her hand in front of her like it was poisonous, staring at it with wide, horror-filled eyes. "From what?" She shrieked. I winced, silently praising we were in an abandoned part of the infirmary. Nurses could get vicious if you messed up their quiet time.

Instead of talking to answer her, which would only add to the noise, I held up my battered hand silently. Alberta couldn't quite keep the disgust out of her voice. "Belikov, your hand is destroyed!"

"You should see the tree," I said, a lame attempt at a joke. Humor was not my best suit. I gave her a weak smile. In response, she stared at me for a few seconds with disbelief written all over her face.

"Get that taken care of after we're done with this mess. Where is your brother?" Alberta peered around me as if expecting Felix to magically appear.

"He's not here." Well, that was obvious. "He's not ready to face our dad just yet." I explained. Upon seeing Alberta's face when I said he "wasn't ready", I hurried to continue my explanation in more detail. "Felix wasn't treated very kindly by Daddy Dearest. I'll explain in more detail later." The nerves were starting to get to me. I hadn't seen my dad since I was 13, and in that time he'd been out of my life, he was busy getting drunk and training my little brother to hate me and my family. Now he was back. What could I expect from him?

Alberta hesitated, examining me closely. "Dimitri, you know you don't have to talk to him." She said softly. "No one is forcing you to. Just say the word and I'll have him sedated and thrown out in no time."

Hmm, that might be amusing to see… My dad, heavily sedated, thrown out onto his drunken ass…. No. I steeled myself against that tempted thought. "Guardian Petrov, I do have to do this. I need to get rid of him once and for all."

She nodded briefly and led me farther down the hallway, stopping at the very last doorway. "We had to move him down here. Dr. Olendzki said he was disturbing other patients." I nodded and went to turn the knob. Alberta's hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Before you go in, take this. It's a buzzer," Alberta pressed something small and cool into my hand. "When you press it, an alarm will go off in my headset. That's when we know to come in and take either him or you away. Just in case you're unable or unwilling to press the button for any reason, we do have a camera set up in there, with audio. If I believe things are getting out of hand and you still haven't pressed the buzzer, we're bursting in through that doorway, whether you like it or not."

I nodded briskly, though it kind of bothered me that there was going to be audio. It was supposed to be a private conversation. "That's fine with me." No, no it actually wasn't. "I think that it's going to just be a short conversation anyway. There's not really much I can say to him."

Alberta opened the door. "Good luck, Belikov," she said as I disappeared through the doorway.

I stood in the blinding white room uncertainly. Though the walls were grimy from years of being locked up, the bright lights overhead almost made the room look sterile. A man—my father—was sitting in the far corner facing away from me.

I had gotten my hair color from him, but not my eyes, thank God. I knew that when he turned around, I'd be staring into his steel gray eyes. Those cold, unforgiving eyes had haunted my nightmares when I was a young child.

At the slight sound of the door slipping shut, he rose and turned to face me. I suppressed a gasp. My father, Nick Lazar, looked terrible. His normally sharp and cruel eyes were now red-rimmed and dull, staring vacantly out from his haggard face. The air was heavy with the stench of alcohol.

When his gaze landed on me, I watched as his eyes sharpened and filled with hatred and rage. Startled by the sudden change in his demeanor, I dropped my gaze.

"Hello again, _son_," Nick sneered. "How are you?"

I clenched my jaw. "What do you want?" I asked in an even tone, avoiding his question. I hated lying, even if it was just to a lowlife like my father.

"What, a man can't check in on his eldest son?" Nick slurred, lurching forward. I fought to keep my disgust from showing.

"Not when you abused said son's mother and little brother," I growled.

"So, you've talked to Felix." Nick said grimly. "What did he tell you?"

"You deserve to burn in hell for what you did to him. You are an ass." I told him.

Nick's face hardened. "You took Felix away from me. This is your fault," He hissed.

"Felix left of his own accord."

His merciless eyes turned black with rage. "Don't lie to me! You kidnapped him! You took him away! Felix is here, isn't he?" Nick was right in my face. I groaned inwardly. Alberta was probably organizing the guardians now.

I let my eyes wander around the room, searching for the camera. Finally, I found it, in the corner where Nick had been sitting. Looking steadily into it, I began talking. "Alberta, don't send any guardians. I can handle this."

"Who are you talking to?" Nick demanded. When I didn't respond, he pressed himself closer to me. "Answer me, dammit!"

"It's not anything you need to worry about. It's just my boss." I told him.

"Fuck that!" He spat. "I haven't forgotten what you did to me, Dimitri. You poisoned my lover and children against me! And now you've taken my only son away from me." I tried not to flinch when he said "only son". Even if I hate him, it still hurts to know he doesn't consider me his son.

"And I will have my revenge." He continued. I froze. Oh, shit. This was trouble. "Anyone you care about in particular? Your charge? The last Dragomir? Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway?" My breath left me. Nick smirked, sensing my fear and sudden worry. "It would be a damn shame if something were to happen to Rosie," He murmured, sensing he'd gotten to me.

My mind was blank with fear. I tried hard not to think about what a royal like Nick could do to Rose. He could easily hunt her down. I hated this, wanted this conversation to end. I needed to stop him from talking again. Unfortunately, my hands were glued to my side. I stood perfectly still.

"And Olena? How is she? Maybe I'll stop by her place." Nick smirked at me. Clearly, he was insane. Felix leaving him must have been the last straw.

If I thought I was freaking out now, his next words tore me apart. "You are a worthless bastard, Dimitri Belikov, unfit to be a guardian. You will end up hurting everyone who loves you, and everything you love will be torn away from you as it was for me. I swear it."

My head felt light, my mouth dry. I tried desperately to move my hands to hit the buzzer, but they hung limply at my side. Faintly, I could hear frantic shouting on the other side of the door and barely had the presence of mind to dive aside just as the door burst open. Through my hazy, confused vision, I saw Alberta and a few other guardians burst through the doorway and grab my father. Slumping against the wall, I gave a half-sigh, half-moan.

Alberta shouted something to one of the guardians, and they hurried back into the room. "Belikov, come on. We need to leave."

I stood up straight. "Not until I kill him." I growled. "He deserves to die. He had no right to say that to me," For some reason, I wasn't upset anymore. I was pissed. I needed to punch something so badly, and I would happily settle for my dad's face.

"No, Belikov. He's a Moroi. Even if he is an insolent jackass, beating him up would get you thrown into jail." The guardian shook his head at me. My shoulders slumped as I realized he was right. Damn him. I let the guardians lead me out of the room, still fighting for control so I wouldn't go beat my father to a pulp.

**Oh, damn… Who wants to beat Dimka's dad up soo badly that he stays in a coma forever? I definitely do…**

**Review?**


	9. Chapter 9

**I believe that it's time I check in on Rose, don't you? :D Everyone was demanding her…**

**On another note, this chapter is extremely short, so if I have 25 reviews when I get home today, I'll upload the next chapter for you guys ;) **

**Thank you guys for all your reviews! They make me smile like an idiot and then my cheeks hurt when I go to school! **

**RPOV**

I woke up with a start. Looking around, I blinked and scrambled to my feet. What the hell had happened to me? Where was I? More importantly, _who_ was I?

The few memories I had came flooding back to me all at once. Oh, yea. I'd lost all my memory and had run away from the very people who obviously loved me. I didn't want them to hurt anymore.

After running, it was kind of blurry. I remembered a blindingly painful headache and an inescapable fear. Then… nothing. I assumed that the headache and fear combined had caused me to black out.

Gingerly, I touched my head, half-expecting the pain to come rushing back at my touch. There was nothing, not even a minor throbbing pain.

All of a sudden, weakness overcame me, and I could barely stand. I assumed it was the lack of food and water.

"Aw, crap," I muttered. Now I was desperately thirsty and, considering no cars had passed by me yet, I was pretty sure it was safe to assume that this road wasn't used a lot. I guess I couldn't hope for help from unexpected but nice strangers.

Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I started walking forward, following the road, ready to start my new life.

**Rose still doesn't have her memory? Going to the Shadow Lands didn't help? Oh, crap…What is gonna happen now? Is there ever going to be a happy ending? Why am I asking you guys? I am the author. I know exactly what's going to happen… :) **

**Review and tell me how mad you are at me cuz Rose still doesn't remember Dimitri! **

**25 for the next chapter today!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I made this chapter with Dimitri and Rose's POV to make up for my absolutely horrid and short chapter.**

**Love all your reviews, even the flames that I have yet to receive!**

**DPOV (Dimka first, 'kay? There's some stuff that needs to happen so I can stop making him all depressed soon)**

After the guardian had deposited me at my room (miraculously, I'd made it without breaking someone's spine), I had a few hours to myself.

I spent them drifting in and out of dreams of my Rose. Sometimes, she was right in front of me, eyes sparkling with life and happiness, laughing, teasing me. Other times, she was far away, taunting me to come closer, and then disappearing when I did.

I was aroused from my dreams by the sound of someone knocking on my door. Groaning and still half-asleep, I stumbled to the door and opened it.

Lissa's anxious face filled my vision. Her eyes widened considerably when she saw me.

"Holy crap, Dimitri! What the hell happened to you?" She exclaimed. I was about to make a sarcastic remark when I remembered she didn't know about my father just suddenly showing up at the academy.

I managed a weak smile, thinking about how bad I must look to worry Lissa so much. "Nothing happened, Princess. You just woke me up. I always look terrible when I just wake up."

She nodded, clearly not buying my excuse. "Call me Lissa, please. Can I come in?" She asked abruptly. Unconsciously, my eyebrow rose, but I stepped aside to let her in.

My dad's words echoed in my head. _Everything that you love will be torn away from you…_

Lissa looked around my room hesitantly, sitting down on my couch. I sat down on my bed and stared at her expectantly. _I swear it… _

"I'm sorry for earlier. It—it was the darkness," Lissa burst out, staring at me like she was very worried I wouldn't forgive her.

"Princess—Lissa, I know it wasn't really your fault. It's fine." I smiled tightly, trying to pretend that memories of Rose weren't dancing through my head. _Everything that you love… _

Lissa saw right through me. Giving me a reprimanding look for trying to pretend that everything was fine, she said, "No. I know that it reminded you of… Rose. And that night the Strigoi attacked." Lissa swallowed hard, her eyes bright with unshed tears as she recalled her own memories of Rose.

_It would be a damn shame if anything were to happen to Rosie… _My father's sinister whisper made me shudder internally. I turned to Lissa, looking to change the subject.

"It's fine, really. Is there another reason you came to see me?" I asked her abruptly. There had to be. Lissa wouldn't come all the way to my room just to apologize.

"Yea. The Queen's requested me. I've have to go to the royal Court for a few days. I think she's going to assign me another guardian. I have only one and that's Rose. But the Queen isn't aware that Rose… isn't here so she's just gonna give me one, I think." She grimaced.

I nodded. That was good. Rose would still have her position if she came back. "Who else is going?"

"Well, Adrian, obviously, and Christian. Which is why I came to you. You and Felix are both Christian's guardians, which means that at least one of you has to come with us. I came to you because I didn't think Felix would want to go, because of the whole Anastasiya thing. But if you want to stay, that's fine. I'm sure no one will care because he's an Ozera. I mean, it's only for a few days." She looked at me hopefully.

I suppressed a groan. The last thing I wanted to do was leave the peace of my room. "Of course I'll come. Lord Ozera is my charge."

"Christian," Lissa corrected me absentmindedly. Her gaze returned to me. "We leave in three hours. We're taking the academy jet. Be ready to go."

I watched her leave. When she was finally out the door, I began packing with a heavy heart. I seriously didn't want to leave my own room and go out in public, but I had no choice. They come first. That damn mantra controlled my life. It was the reason I was here, packing to leave instead of out searching for the love of my life.

Three hours later, I was on a plane heading for the Royal Court. About an hour before we left, Alberta had come to my room with the news that the princess and Lord Ozera had decided that they wanted to stay at court instead of returning to the academy after the Queen was done with Lissa. Something about how it was easier to stay at court in case they were needed. So now Felix was with us and we were flying away from the academy, and away from Rose.

I was leaving her behind. That was all I could think about as I stared out the window. How could Lissa bear to do this? Rose was her best friend, her guardian, her bondmate. How could she just leave Rose behind? Perhaps Lissa truly was just like every other Royal Moroi. Maybe she just used people and didn't care what happened to them beyond that.

The thought angered me. Rose was willing to go crazy for Lissa and it appeared that meant absolutely nothing to Lissa.

Felix, sitting next to me, noticed my tension. He gave me a concerned look but said nothing. Things were still weird between us, more so since I had yelled at him earlier that day. I knew what he'd say to me though. Hell, I knew that I'd probably say the same thing he would if anyone ever came to me in this situation_._ Before making judgments, I should talk to Lissa and see what her real reasons for leaving were. I was starting to understand why Rose hated my "Zen life lessons".

Coming to a decision, I stood up and walked to the back of the plane. Lissa and Christian were sitting together, their heads together as they talked in low voices. Lissa looked extremely upset and it appeared Christian was trying to comfort her.

Taking a deep breath, I tapped Lissa on the shoulder.

"Princess? Can we talk?"

**RPOV **

I stared with wide eyes at the men across the street from me. My hand hovered by the pay phone anxiously. Slowly, without moving any other parts of my body, I licked my dry and cracked lips.

These men had followed me from the restaurant and now were staring at me and smirking at my fearful expression from across the street. My whole body was tense, ready for action as my mind raced through my options.

I could scream, for one. Even in a small, barely populated town such as this, someone was bound to hear me and come running. But that might be a bit drastic; there was still a chance these men was harmless. I doubted it though. They didn't look harmless. No harmless person wanders the streets this late at night while they followed an innocent girl around. If they came over to me and tried something, I was sure I could beat them up. Something I'd learned in these past two weeks was that the old me kept my body in great physical condition. If I decided I couldn't beat them all up, I could always run. They didn't look all that fast to me. Looks could be deceiving though.

A sound in the street made me jump. I turned my head to see a car, slowly making its way down the street towards me. Its headlights flashed, illuminating me and the men across the street.

As it passed me, the guy driving—a teenager—honked his horn and wolf-whistled at me.

But I didn't care. My glimpse of the men's faces in the headlights had me frozen to the spot. Surely, my eyes were playing tricks on me. What I saw couldn't possibly be real. Horror made the hairs on my arm stand up straight. Utterly terrified, my breathing quickened and all my senses started screaming at me to move, to get the hell away from the strange men.

Because the men's eyes were ringed in red.

Biting my lip hard to keep from screaming, I turned to flee. My plan was to dart away and try to forget I ever saw the men with red eyes. I was here to start a new life, not get scared to death.

Suddenly, one of the men was there in front of me. His smile gleamed in the moonlight, and this time I did scream.

He had fangs. Oh, dear God, I was going to die.

His smile grew larger as he grabbed me and pulled me in close. As his teeth grazed my cheek, I lashed out, screaming full force and struggling to get out of his grasp. He clamped a hand over my mouth and leaned in close to me.

"Shush, dhampir." He cooed softly into my ear. I almost vomited. His voice was sickly sweet. "We wouldn't want to cause a scene, now would we?"

Dhampir? What the hell does that mean? I figured, I'd puzzle it out later.

I struggled wildly, managing to free my mouth. "That's exactly what I want!" I spat. "Now let me go, you—" His hand came down over my mouth again, silencing me. Thinking quickly, I bit his hand as hard as I could. I heard him hiss and his grip loosened. I fought free of him and kneed him in a spot no man should ever get kneed in. He he let out a groan and went down. I bolted away, sprinting for the first building I saw. Behind me, I could hear the guy's buddies racing over to him.

I pulled desperately at the first door I saw. Locked. Dammit… With no time to run for another door, I didn't think, I just acted. I kicked the door as hard as I could, unleashing a feral cry as I did so. The door was knocked right off its hinges. Yea, I was a badass.

I darted into the dark and seemingly abandoned building. Why did I have to pick the building that was completely devoid of human life?

Thankfully, my eyes adjusted fairly quickly, and I was able to locate a door about ten yards away, on the side wall. Guessing it was my best bet, I wrenched it open and was met with a staircase. The stairs went up to a second floor and down to what I was assuming was the basement. The light from the staircase—why did the stairs have lights but the rest of the building didn't?—showed me that there was another door in the room I was in, as well as multiple boxes. I decided that going down the stairs was my best bet and I had a little time because they had to check the other door and all the boxes.

I crept down the stairs slowly so as to make as little noise as possible and staying alert for the sound of the door opening.

About one minute later, when I was almost to the bottom, I heard the door creak open. I dove to one side and crouched down, not even daring to breath. I heard the guy take a deep breath as if he smelled something. A few seconds later, I heard him yell, "She's over here! She went down the stairs!"

What the hell? How did he know I was down here? Had he seen me, or was it possible that he had _smelled _me? I knew I hadn't taken a shower in like two days, but I didn't think I was that smelly.

Not even bothering with being quiet, I opened the thankfully unlocked door and slammed it shut behind me, locking it in the same instant. With my quick thinking that I was beginning to notice, I saw a box next to the door. I shoved it under the door handle and prayed that it would take them a few minutes to break through.

I knew that I had done a lot of things today that were really unusual and creative. My guess was I had been a fighter before whatever unfortunate accident took my memory. It certainly explained why I was able to come up with ways to hide in split seconds. I knew that if they truly could smell me, though, I was so screwed.

I surveyed the room and saw another doorway. Thank God because there were no other boxes in here to hide behind.

I ran into that room, also locking that door and pushing a crate that was full of something in front of the door. My heart pounding, I glanced around and spotted a pile of boxes in the far corner of the room. I hid behind those boxes and waited, my breath caught in my throat.

**So two cliffies for you all! And the action for Rose starts next chapter. Will she ever remember? And what the hell is up with Lissa just abandoning all hope of ever seeing Rose again? It's so unlike her! …Or is it?**

**Review! And for those of you who actually care, Rose will get her memory back pretty soon. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sooo it's time for Lissa and Dimitri to talk. If that isn't very long, I may add Rose' s POV. But it probably won't be very long… But since I love your reviews sooo much I might just make this have Rose's POV and Dimitri's POV… **

**Oh, and **_**MAGS**_**: Yes, if an anonymous reviewer asks a question, I try to answer it :) Dimitri's dad is an insolent ass. Him saying he loved Olena and the kids were just his way of trying to make Dimitri feel guilty. Plus he was drunk. Nick will be disappearing for a bit, but he'll reappear later. And thank you :D I'm glad you like it, and I'm well aware it's depressing. I hate it and I'm trying to make it better, but when I wrote this, I was going through some pretty serious stuff and my emotions sorta reflected on my writing. And when I revisited this story, it just felt wrong somehow to change it, if that makes any sense. THANK YOU! **

**MOLLY: ****Was this soon enough? ;) And ha, the Strigoi in my story are going to be super-stupid :D Don't worry, she remembers for real really quickly here. **

**LISSA POV (Haha! Surprise! I thought it'd be interesting to see Lissa's emotions during the talk… I think this might be a 3-person POV chapter…)**

I jerked away from Christian. "Dimitri!" I smiled up at him, though my heart was pounding. He had just scared me half to death. The only reason Dimitri would want to talk was if it was about Rose. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about Rose, especially now. I had a sneaking suspicion about the exact thing Dimitri wanted to talk about. Could I handle a conversation about the best friend I'd failed?

"Of course we can talk." Damn courtesy… Being a princess meant I had to please everyone I could. "Christian, move," I hissed.

Christian gave me a look of concern. "You sure? He's gonna wanna talk about…" He trailed off, obviously unwilling to say it. Rose. It hurt my heart to think about her. It was all my fault that rose had lost her memory. I must have done something wrong when I healed her.

I nodded at him, even though I wasn't sure at all. Christian frowned and stood up reluctantly, giving me a quick kiss on my forehead. I knew he'd be close by, ready to jump to my aid and comfort me if I needed it. God, I loved him.

I tensed ever so slightly as Dimitri sat next to me. Trying to keep the mood light for as long as possible, I asked, "So what did you want to talk about?"

Dimitri tended to suck the happiness out of anything and anyone these days, so I wasn't surprised when he turned to face me and I felt my mood drop considerably. . Ever since Rose had lost her memory, we'd all noticed that he'd been falling into a greater and greater depression. To be honest, I wasn't sure if anything could ever pull him out of it, if he continued descending.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts just as Dimitri started talking.

"It's about Rose," He said. I closed my eyes, desperately wishing for a black hole to appear and swallow the plane up. It would put an ending to this conversation. I knew exactly what he was going to say. "I don't understand, Princess. How could you just leave her?"

I opened my eyes and looked directly at Dimitri, instead of running away and crying like I really wanted to. "Dimitri," I said quietly. "I can't talk about this right now." My throat was closing.

"No," Dimitri said firmly. I opened my eyes wider in shock. I hadn't heard Dimitri use that tone in a very long time. Rose had always complained about it, calling it his "mentor" tone. "You are going to tell me why the hell you left Rose behind." More shock.

Like I needed a reminder of what I did? Rose would do anything for me, and I'd left her behind when I got one damned phone call. I had my reasons for leaving the academy for good, but none that Dimitri could know about. I'd promised I wouldn't tell him the truth. Anything but the truth.

"There is no Rose now," I said in a low voice. I hated saying that, but Dimitri couldn't know that. He had to believe that I'd moved on, because if he knew the truth, he'd want to do something. And that couldn't happen. If he got hurt, Rose would never forgive me when she came back.

In the next instant, Dimitri was gripping my arm, hard. "What did you say?" He growled. I held back a whimper. Oh my damn. He was pissed. God help me.

"There is no Rose anymore!" I repeated, feeling fresh tears roll down my face. "She's gone, Dimitri! She—she doesn't even know us anymore! She left us."

At my words, Dimitri's face became agonized. My heart twisted. It killed me to pretend I was trying to move on from Rose. I felt like I was betraying her.

"How can you say that?" He gripped my arm tighter, but I didn't think he knew he was doing it. I was fairly certain that my circulation was now completely cut off. "Rose would do anything for you. And you're leaving her?"

I let out a sob. I hated this so so much. Leaving Rose made me feel like I was betraying my own sister. Even if leaving was my best option if I wanted her back. "She's gone, Dimitri," What more could I say? "She's gone and she's not coming back. The Rose we knew is dead. It's time for us to move on. Obviously she has." I squirmed uncomfortably. Dimitri's grip had not lessened at all.

"I refuse to believe that," Dimitri gripped my arm even harder More tears came rolling down my face.

I couldn't help my shriek of pain. "Ow! Dimitri, let go! You're hurting me!"

Christian was there in an instant, soothing me with just one look. "Dimitri, let her go." He said to Dimitri, using a bit of his royal control. It was something Christian hated using. I tugged at Dimitri's hand uselessly, looking up at him with teary eyes. Reflexively, Dimitri clenched me tighter. Looking at his vacant, pain-filled and far off face, I realized that this wasn't really Dimitri. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it.

After about ten seconds of failing at prying off Dimitri's hand, Christian gave up trying to use physical force. "Guardian Belikov, I demand that you let go of the Dragomir princess." When Dimitri's hand didn't move from my arm, Christian made his voice even harder. "Now! Or I will have you stripped of your guardian title."

That was a bit extreme and really not something Christian could pull off. Dimitri seemed to know that as well, because he continued to grip my arm, staring at me intently.

"Princess," He said earnestly. "You can't really believe Rose is gone, can you? Please," Desperation tinged his voice. I winced. "please, we have to go back, we have to find Rose."

And… cue the tears. I turned my face away from Dimitri and Christian, letting the tears drip down my face.

Suddenly, Dimitri's grip was released. Startled, I swung my face around to see Felix dragging him away. Christian dropped into the now vacant seat.

"Hey," He whispered. "you okay?" Looking at his face, so open and loving, I burst into tears. He was so caring and kind. I didn't deserve him in any way. I didn't deserve Rose, either.

Christian pulled me to his chest. "I'm a terrible person!" I sobbed. "I ditched my best friend for a fucking phone call. I abandoned my best friend!"

"No, you didn't. Liss, you the only thing you could do. You made the right choice." Christian said soothingly. "It's the best thing right now—and it's our best shot at ever seeing Rose again."

I nodded into his chest, though I felt far from comforted. No matter what anyone said, I still felt like I was leaving Rose behind. Only Christian knew about the phone call, the real reason I was leaving the academy for good.

_Damn it, Zmey. I hope you know what you're doing…_

**Okay, so I know I promised Dimitri and Rose as well, but I thought this chapter would be waaay too long… So I'll post Dimitri and Rose POV chapter later today, I promise.**

**Another note: Lissa isn't really abandoning Rose. She got a very important phone call. It's her best shot at getting Rose back. But what does Abe have to do with Lissa's important phone call? (Really, if you can't figure that out, you need some help. I recommend a psychiatrist. Seriously.) **

**Review, tell me what you thought of Lissa's pov**


	12. Chapter 12

**God, okay, I am sooo sorry :/ my computer decided it was going to be retarded and not turn on and when I took it to get repaired, apparently it was out of battery because for some reason the charger broke. I got my new charger about 6 hours ago, so I let it charge while I was sleeping… **

**And then I turn it on a guess what? Somehow, half my freaking files got wiped out including this chapter… But no worries; I saved all the important files on a flash drive, so I spent an hour frantically searching for that… To all my If They Were Human reader: My next chapter probably won't be up for a while.**

**Oh, and my keyboard's broken. I have to like slam down on the keys to get it to work. It's driving me crazy.**

**A lot of you said you liked my LPOV last chapter. Thank you guys! I'm glad you liked it because there will be more of her and less of Dimitri's, at least for a little bit…**

**Rose should really get her memory back (ahem, *HINT*) shouldn't she? **

**DPOV (Him first… I like this author thing! I get to make you wait longer before reading Rose's POV while she's hiding from the Strigoi)**

I gave up holding Lissa's arm. I hadn't even known I was holding on to her. I let Felix drag me away, back to our seats. My mind was screaming at me to struggle against Felix, to yell at Lissa that she was wrong because my Rose just couldn't be gone. There had to be hope. I had to fight for her. I needed to believe there was a chance I'd see her again. I had to believe that.

Because if I didn't, what was there left to live for?

Felix shoved me into my seat, not bothering to be gentle. I sat down without protest and resumed staring out the window. Unfortunately, Felix was not planning on leaving me alone and letting the matter drop.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He hissed. "You could get in serious trouble for doing that!"

I whipped my head around to face him. "She left Roza," The words left my lips before I could stop them.

Felix sighed. "Dimitri, there is no Rose anymore. Lissa was right. It's time to let her go and move on."

"Leave me the hell alone!" I growled. "I will never forget Rose, never…" She was my sun and moon.

Felix continued to speak, undeterred by my little declaration. "Nobody is asking you to forget about her, or forget what she means to you. We just want you to move on in your life. Never forget Rose, but accept that she's probably not coming back. The doctor said her amnesia was most likely permanent. We just want you to stop focusing so much of your time thinking about Rose. Instead of getting depressed when you think about her or something about her comes up in conversations, remember the good times you had with her and cherish the happy memories. There's other things in life."

His emotional, Hallmark-worthy speech had made me realize a few things, but I wasn't about to admit that. I just needed time to think, alone.

"Felix, shut up. Go away, now." I said in a low, threatening voice.

"I was just trying to help," Felix sounded hurt. Damn. I'd made things worse with my brother.

"You're making everything worse." No, I was. I knew that. "Just leave me the hell alone." Actually, he was helping me.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Fine," He said stiffly, getting up. "But sometimes you make me wonder if our father was right about you, Dimitri Belikov. I regret ever coming to you. I'd have rather stayed with Asya. At least she functions properly part of the time."

I closed my eyes and let the shame wash over me. Felix was right. Ever since we'd come back to the academy, my life had been in shambles. And I had not dealt with that well at all.

I was in a major depression, basically unable to communicate with anyone. Almost everything reminded me of Rose. Just thinking her name hurt.

I realized that it had to be so much worse for Lissa. She had been the one to heal Rose, and she'd woken up with no memory. She'd known Rose since preschool. She'd brought Rose back to life. And yet, Lissa had dealt with the pain amazingly well. She wasn't perfect and it was obvious she was hurting, but at least she was able to go out in public for over an hour without breaking down.

Hell, now Lissa was taking steps to ensure that she wasn't in pain and that Rose didn't haunt her forever. **(A/N: Poor Dimitri… He thought Lissa was serious! Little does he know that Rose is the whole reason Lissa's moving to Court…) **

Lissa was trying to be strong and move on with her life.

Now, I realized that I had to do the same. I couldn't let Rose haunt me every day or I would drive myself insane with the what if's. And she'd always be in my memories, fondly remembered instead of painfully.

It was time for me to start living life again.

**RPOV**

Shivering with anticipation and fear, I turned to my right. There was a box next to me; I needed to move it. My plan was to surround myself with boxes. That would make it harder for the men to get to me. I'd have more time to think about what I was going to do this way.

Instead of a box, there was a boy about my age sitting next to me. I stifled my shriek of surprise just before it came out. Really, screaming was not the way to hide from a bunch of psychopaths.

The boy had dull orange hair, pale, washed out skin, and sad blue eyes. Actually, everything about him looked faded and depressed. He was the most sad-looking person I could ever see. For some reason, I felt like it was my fault.

"Who are you?" I hissed, ignoring my feelings of guilt. He didn't respond, but seemed to grow sadder. I tried another question. "What's going on? Do you know why those men have red eyes and are after me? What does the word 'dhampir' mean?" Okay, so maybe it was a bombardment of questions.

He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Closing his mouth, I saw frustration mar his face.

"What's wrong? Can you talk?" I whispered urgently. This guy, he knew the answer to all my questions. I was sure of it. The men were getting closer. They had already broken through the first door and I could hear them prowling around the room. I closed my eyes. Thank God there was another door in that room.

The boy looked like he was concentrating very hard on something. Once again, he opened his mouth, except this time he was successful—kind of. "Rose," He croaked out. I could barely hear him.

Rose? There were no roses in here. It was an abandoned room, for God's sake! Was Rose a name? Short for Rosanna? That name rang a bell. Rosanna Vladimir. Those two names sounded very important but not quite right. Rose…Rose… Rosalinda

Memory shot through me. A man's voice, whispering in my ear. "Roza, Roza," He murmured. His voice had a soft Russian accent.

It hit me then who Rose was. "I'm Rose!" I said excitedly to the redheaded boy.

Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes, momentarily masking the sadness. Then, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to speak again. "Remember," was what he managed to say this time.

Remember? If only it was that easy! "If only I could!" I snapped, agitated. Why couldn't this boy say more than one word at a time?

The boy was obviously growing worried about the men because he cast a fearful glance at the door. "Remember," He croaked again, staring at me with intense focus.

There was suddenly immense pressure against my skull, as if something was trying to force its way into my mind. My mind started buzzing, and everything became blurry except for the strange, redheaded boy. I could barely sit straight up, and I kept my eyes on the boy as I groped around blindly behind me for a box to support myself.

Then…It just stopped. Breathing hard, I glared at the boy, assuming the weirdness that had just occurred was his fault. "What the fuck was that—oh!"

I gasped as lights, colors and sounds flooded into my head. They came in so quickly, I barely had time to register its presence before a new one appeared. The emotions came pouring in. Love, hurt, anger, happiness. They all overwhelmed me.

I fell back, clutching my head. Managing to crack an eye open, I pleaded with the boy—Mason, my brain supplied. That boy, he was Mason. And he loved me. "Mason!" I screeched. I was past caring about the men—no, Strigoi—outside the door, hunting me down. "Please!" I screamed. "Make it STOP!"

His eyes, full of regret for my pain, communicated for him. Though he was upset at my pain, he couldn't make it stop. It needed to happen. I screamed again, closing my eyes. The memories, white-hot and painful, continued to come. The world was spinning around me and Mason was the center, the only point where the world was still and not blurry and whirling around.

And, suddenly, the memories and emotions stopped and the world was still again. I lay on the ground, panting. Pathetic relief washed through me. It was over, all of it. I remembered everything about my life.

I smiled and began laughing weakly. It was over, hallelujah! The nightmarish hell of the last few weeks was over. I could go back to the life I'd always planned, with Dimitri and Lissa at my side. I rolled over to thank Mason, but he was gone. The effort of pushing all my memories at me had been too much for him. He'd gone back to the ShadowLands to recuperate.

That was when to door burst open. I flinched in surprise, but my guardian training kicked in and kept me quiet. Damn it. I'd forgotten about the Strigoi. I lay frozen on the ground, not daring to move a muscle. I didn't have a stake, either, and my memory overload had left me weak and shaky.

"Little dhampir," One of the disgusting creatures cooed. "It's time to play. Come out, come out wherever you are."

Oh, hell no. No one orders me around and no one calls me little dhampir, besides Adrian. That's only because I can't stop him and his incessant flirting though. Time to teach these bastards a lesson. I leapt out from my hiding spot, emitting a feral battle cry. I perched on top of the boxes and spun around at the sound of a footstep.

Immediately, I swung my leg up and brought it down hard onto the Strigoi's head. From my spot on the boxes, it wasn't hard to bring my leg up and my leverage allowed me to get more power on the chopping-down part.

Normally, a move like that would crack a person's skull, but the Strigoi only stumbled back, his knees giving way slightly underneath him.

That was all the distraction I needed. Jumping down from the boxes, I landed in a crouch then brought my fist up and smashing it right under his jaw. He gave a muffled curse and fell backwards. Without hesitating, I spun around and dashed for the door. Within seconds, a Strigoi was blocking my path.

I skidded to a stop and looked around warily. I was surrounded.

One of them laughed. "You can't beat us. Now we can make this easy or we can make this hard."

"I'd rather kick your ass," I replied tauntingly. There was no way in hell I was getting out of this mess, though. At least not without immediately needing to go to a hospital afterwards. If I was going to go down, I was going in true Hathaway style.

The Strigoi smirked. "Oh, so you're a badass guardian, huh?"

"And don't you forget it!" I quipped. The Strigoi behind me grabbed my arm and twisted. Instinctively, I lashed out behind me with my foot and felt it connect with his knee. His grip on me loosened, and I jerked my arm free, spinning to face him in the same movement. I crouched in a defensive stance just as another Strigoi hit me in the back of my head, hard.

I stumbled forward and the last thing I heard before blacking out was a Strigoi hissing, "Nighty-night, little dhampir."

**K, that was my Rose and Dimitri POV chapter. Rose remembers! And Dimitri isn't as depressed anymore! PARTY! But remember: those Strigoi ruin everything…**

**Oh, and if you didn't get review responses from me last chapter, I DID send them out, but I guess that there's a chance they didn't go through because my computer turned off.**

**Tell me what you thought of this chapter! **


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter is LPOV and RPOV. I think I'm done with DPOV at least for another few chapters, which is kind of nice. I'm a girl! Writing in a guy's perspective is hard for me.**

**Oh, and guys, DIMITRI WILL NOT MOVE ON WITH TASHA! He could never stop loving Rose. He's just going to stop letting her disappearance affect every single thing he says and does.**

**MAGS: Lmao, I wouldn't tell you if I was that cruel. But I'm not so that's not an issue with Rose atm :D I definitely could NOT do that. I'd hate myself.**

**LISSA: Awh, I'm sorry you're sick :( But I'm glad I made you happy :D **

**MOLLY_ Thank you so much! :D When I stop posting this story, I have a new project I'll be focusing on… Lol, your homework might be a good thing to do ;)**

**Thank you all for your nice reviews, though I think most of you secretly wanted to kill me.**

**LPOV**

There was a Moroi servant waiting just inside the gates when our plane finally landed at court. As soon as we reached the gates, he hurried towards me.

"Her Majesty, Queen Tatiana, would like to see you, Princess Vasilisa Dragomir." The escort said, bowing respectfully.

"Right now?" I looked like a mess; I'd been sitting on a plane for 8 hours and I'd cried myself to sleep thinking about my MIA best friend, so my makeup was all smeared and my hair probably looked like a raccoon had attacked it. And it wouldn't hurt to change my clothes, which were wrinkled.

The escort nodded. "She said I should bring you to her as soon as you landed."

"Um," I said uncertainly, looking at Christian for help. He just shrugged. "Can I go to the bathroom and freshen up a bit at least?"

He looked uncertain, but nodded anyway.

"I just need two minutes." I promised, already backing up towards the bathroom. My purse had some mascara and light eye shadow in it, as well as lip gloss and a hair tie.

I burst into the bathroom, fumbling to open my purse. This damn thing never cooperated; it took me forever to unlatch the clasp. However, Rose had given it to me for my birthday last year, so I carried it around as a reminder of her. Miraculously, it opened and I spilled its contents onto the sink counter.

I wet a napkin and wiped away the mascara stains running down my cheeks, as well as the rest of my makeup. Hastily, I applied new mascara—waterproof, thank God—and the light, natural-looking eye shadow that I had thrown into my purse at the last minute. I had eyeliner, but there was no time for me to put it on; I was one of those girls that had to spend an hour applying eyeliner, otherwise I would end up stabbing myself in the eye.

Next, I pulled my long blonde hair up into a messy but cute bun. I didn't have a comb and it hopelessly tangled anyway. I let a few strands dangle free and let my finger before twirling the few strands of hair around it. Hopefully, it would dry curly.

I was already out the door when I remembered the lip gloss. I hadn't closed my purse up yet, so I pulled the lip gloss out and tried to apply while running back to the gates and the Moroi escort.

I smiled at the escort as I approached him. "Let's go,"

The escort hurried through the halls of the main building without pausing to wait for me. As we passed the door that led out to the courtyard, I frowned. The courtyard had a small, hidden path that led to the Queen's throne room. It was the shortest way to the Queen.

"Excuse me? I think we missed our turn to the courtyard." I called out to the escort worriedly. Maybe he didn't know that that way was the shortest way to the Queen. Maybe he was new to the Court.

Without slowing his frantic pace, or turning around to face me, the escort replied, "We're taking a shortcut."

**RPOV**

Groaning, I opened my eyes and rolled onto my side. I took in my surroundings with bleary eyes. I was in a very dark, very damp room chained to the wall by my ankle. Oh, lovely. As I became more aware of my situation, things came rushing back to me, including the Strigoi. Horror crept up my back. This was bad, very very bad. The Strigoi hadn't killed me and, considering I could barely see anything in the dark room, I wasn't a Strigoi either. That meant they wanted to keep me around as their own personal blood whore or they wanted information from me. Both were not good.

And I didn't think anyone would be out looking for me. When I left, people had to have assumed I'd run away to start a new life because I didn't remember anyone, and being around people who knew me well but I barely knew them would feel too weird for me. It was what I wanted. They probably were going to give me space to do my own thing and they would hope I'd remember. It was what I'd wanted to happen when I'd run away. Why the hell would I want that? Had I been delusional? I seriously hoped that someone, anyone was looking for me.

I sat up and tugged at the chain halfheartedly, not expecting to be able to do anything. The wall was wet and covered with mold, but the chained that restrained me was sturdy. I wrinkled my nose. Had the Strigoi never heard of sanitation.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway made me tense in anticipation and fear. Finally, the Strigoi were coming to see me.

The door opened and one of the Strigoi I'd been fighting in the warehouse stepped in. Stopping about ten about ten feet from me, his eyes landed on me and lit up with delight—a cruel, sadistic happiness that chilled me to the core.

"You're awake," He crooned. Involuntarily, my lip curled up in disgust.

"So? What's it to you?" I asked smartly. "Are you planning on keeping me here long? Because I have a hot date tomorrow night and if I'm here, that'll kinda screw things up."

"Who would ever date you, dhampir?" He hissed

I sighed. "Okay, you caught me. I don't have a date." I paused, widening my eyes in distress. "I have a history test tomorrow and I just can't miss it!" I wailed, forgetting for a moment that I'd graduated. Even if I hadn't, I could care less about school.

"Can it, blood whore!" He snarled. I blinked, startled by his sudden change in mood.

"God, are you bipolar or what? Three seconds ago, you were rejoicing because I was awake. And then I tell you I have a test tomorrow that I can't miss and you freak out?" I shook my head. "Being bipolar is not attractive. You should get some medicine or something. What's your name?"

He growled at me. "Jasper," I burst out laughing.

"Jasper? Like the sparkly vampire from Twilight that controls emotions?" I couldn't stop laughing. "Oh, the irony, the irony. Do you sparkle too?"

"Shut up!" Jasper flew across the roomand backhanded me across the face. I tried to dodge, but still caught most of it. The force of it sent me spinning around and into the wall that I was chained to. The chains clanked around me as I slid down with a grunt. Damn. That had hurt.

Gingerly, cradling my stinging left cheek, I looked up at Jasper with a stoic face. "Can you just tell me one thing?" I asked. He eyed me warily, but since he didn't run at me and hit me, I took that as an okay to proceed with my question. "If no one would want to date _me, _then who in the hell would want to date you?" My stoic face broke and I couldn't keep the amusement out of my voice.

Letting out a roar of rage, Jasper grabbed my head by my hair and slammed it into the wall. Pain exploded through my skull and my world spun. I bit my lip hard to keep from crying out. He released my hair and stepped back, watching me with a cold, hateful stare.

With shaking fingers, I touched the back of my head and then looked at it. It was covered in blood. Numbly, my fingers followed the path of blood trailing down my neck. My stomach lurched and I felt sick.

I glared at Jasper. "You son of a bit—" I began to hiss, but stopped in horror. My hand was lingering in a spot on my neck where there was more blood than there should have been.

Carefully, dreading what they would find, I probed the spot, my fingers gently skimming over my neck. I prayed that what I feared was wrong, that the excessive amount of blood was from a cut on my neck. I stopped probing, my fingers having found what they were looking for.

Puncture wounds. Two of them. The Strigoi had fed from me. Disgust poured through me as images of them bending over my neck and feeding from me flooded into my mind.

Jasper smirked at me, knowing I'd just discovered the bite mark. "There's more where that came from," He hissed, showing his fangs. They flashed at me menacingly, a promise—or a threat—to bite me and let me feel the endorphins rushing through me.

Feeling suddenly insecure, but determined not to let it show, I shifted my head so that my long, dark hair could cover up my neck and essentially allow me to forget what he'd done to me.

"Don't you dare come anywhere near me, or you'll regret it," I spat defiantly.

"I've heard the rumors. Don't deny it. You enjoy the rush a vampire's bite gives you. You're a blood-whore in the making, Rosemarie Hathaway." Jasper gave me a sinister smile, not at all bothered by my menacing tone. Honestly, I didn't blame him. I was weak from hunger and blood loss, and I was chained to a wall.

"I am not, nor will I ever be, anybody's blood-whore," I hissed. The term "seeing red" came to mind. If only these chains would break. Then I would show that little bastard how afraid he should be of me. "Especially not yours. You're about as attractive as a rotten banana. I bet you've never kissed a girl, alive or undead. At least, she didn't kiss you willingly. Your mother doesn't count, not that she's a real woman." I shrugged, giving him a chilly stare. _That's right, asshole. Nobody calls me a blood-whore. _

Jasper sneered at me like my words had no effect on him. I could tell they did, though. A thought dawned on me, bringing that sick sense of horror back with it. He opened his mouth to respond, but I beat him to it. "You called me by my name!" I stared at him in astonishment and—I'll admit—a little bit of fear. How had I just noticed that? Some guardian I was. "How do you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, Rose my darling." Jasper smiled. "Everyone knows who you are. You caused quite the uproar when you killed Isaiah and Elena. You are what we've been looking for. Galina took a _special_ interest in you after you and your friends killed Nathan." He made special sound like a dirty word.

"Let's get one thing straight, Jazzy," I growled. "I am not your darling. I am not your blood-whore. If you call me either of those things one more time, I will personally see to it that your hand gets paralyzed for life."

Jasper narrowed his eyes at me, clearly trying to control his temper. "Galina was none too happy when you killed him, you know. He was one of her favorites. But I thank you for that. After his death, I was put in charge of this mission, and I've succeeded where he failed."

Warily, I eyed him. "I can see why she preferred him over you. I've seen prettier dogs' asses." I said with disgust, staring pointedly at his face. "And yes, Nathan happens to be one of those dogs' asses."

"Shut up, bitch. Your commentary is not wanted of appreciated." Jasper spat.

"Hell no, it's not wanted. That much is obvious. My commentary is _needed_." I said defiantly. "Now, who the hell is Galina and what does she want with me?"

"She is my boss and the one who will help me make your life a living hell." His grin broadened. "As for what you can do for us… Well, you share a bond with the last Dragomir. That is a very valuable tool for us. You're going to tell us everything we need to know to kill her."

**Oooh, sinister words! Also, to any TWLIGHT fans out there, offense was NOT INTENDED! So if you were offended, I apologize :/ **

**Review and tell me what you think of Jasper, the amazing sparkly Strigoi! :D **


	14. Chapter 14

**What chapter is this? Fourteen? Fifteen? I don't have a clue… I think it's fourteen…**

**And sorry if I don't update every day, but there's some stuff going on in my life that kind of really sucks and so if I don't update it's because I'm trying to deal with it so I can get over it. **

**MOLLY- Lol, I hope you don't get bored ;) I love your reviews! **

Nervously, I turned to the escort, running my hand through my hair. "Does my hair look awful?" I asked him. I was a Royal; looks did matter to me because of that, and I was going to visit the Queen. I had to look decent or she might rethink her Lehigh offer.

The escort hid a smile at my obvious nervousness (**Is that even a word?)** "You look beautiful, Princess."

I blushed slightly at the compliment, and then made a face at the royal title. That name didn't belong to me. It was my father's. I should be Lady Dragomir, or Miss Dragomir. And every time someone called me "Princess", I was made painfully aware of that fact. "Call me Lissa, please," I told him. "And thank you for bringing me here."

The escort nodded, and with a glimmer of a smile, he turned and walked off. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. It swung open and a stone-faced guardian gestured me in.

I made myself smile brightly as the Queen entered the room.

"Good afternoon, your majesty," I said respectfully, bowing to her. The Queen gestured at me to sit down. I briefly wondered if I could make a break for it, but then dismissed the idea. She'd already seen me and the last thing I wanted was the Queen pissed at me. But I really wanted to go find Abe; he was my last hope, the one who had promised me a way to find Rose without the Queen knowing. I swallowed and tried to push thoughts of Rose out of my head. Right now, trying to convince Tatiana that nothing was wrong was what was important.

"It's good to see you again Vasilisa," Queen Tatiana said with a small smile. "I trust you've been well?"

A sick feeling rose up in me. I had been anything but well. My best friend was out, doing God knows what, with absolutely no memory. But, of course, the Queen didn't know about that. I planned to keep it that way. "I've been great," I said with a small shrug. "After the Strigoi attacks on the Academy, I decided to come live here until it's time for classes at Lehigh to start."

"And where is Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway?" she asked, wrinkling her nose slightly as she said Rose's name. "She is your guardian now, is she not?"

I maintained my bright smile. _Breathe, Lissa, just breathe. Everything will be fine. _ "Um, Guardian Hathaway is at the Academy. In light of… recent events there, it became clear that the Academy needed her more than I did, especially because I would be living here with the court's full protection. I ordered her to help them out there, just for a few weeks. She didn't like it, but it's not like she could refuse my orders. Rose flew with me here to ensure my safety getting here, and then went back with the plane. It's only for a few weeks."

Tatiana frowned. "And she is your only guardian?" she persisted.

The sick feeling returned. "Yea, but it's no big deal. I'm living at court now, and Christian has two guardians—both the Belikov's,"

The Queen's displeasure grew. "You are the last of the Dragomirs. You should have _at least _two guardians. And that is why I have arranged for another guardian for you. She is also a teenage girl, slightly older than you. She and Rosemarie can both trail you without raising suspicion when you go to college."

Distress burst through me. Another guardian? Yea, that would definitely complicate things. Another person to lie to. "Your Majesty, that's really not—" I began, but Tatiana raised her hand, silencing me.

"Vasilisa, do not argue. This is for your own good," she said, glowering at me, "Your new guardian's name is Serena. She is already at court, I believe. She should find you shortly."

"Who was she assigned to before?" I asked curiously.

Tatiana waved a hand. "A non-royal. They were friends. Her old Moroi is not nearly as important as you,"

Guilt ripped through me. Serena had been assigned to her friend and now she was being reassigned to me because her friend wasn't important enough to have a guardian. I could only imagine how hard this must have been on them. One thought ran through my head, causing me to shiver and close my eyes.

_How many friendships will I ruin before this is over?_

**Whoop! I done with this chapter! Shorter than normal, but look forward to RPOV and LPOV next chapter. Adrian will be in LPOV's part of the chapter. And some of you may not be happy with me for what I've done to him… **

**Reviews make me a very happy girl :) **


	15. Chapter 15

**RPOV and LPOV… RPOV first, I guess. I won't keep you waiting anymore. And yay! Love your reviews! THANK YOU! This chapter is like 3,000 words to make up for yesterday's short chapter :)**

**Read the bottom AN if you want some news…**

**Disclaimer: I hate these things. If I owned VA, then I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. **

**RPOV**

I gaped at Jasper. "You're kidding me, right?"

He hissed at me. "Of course not, darling Rosemarie. Why would I kid you about this?"

Damn him. He used my full name again. I lunged at him angrily, but the chain around my ankle held me back. "I thought I told you. I am not your darling anything. Call me anything other than Rose one more time and I swear to God, I will rip your head off." I threatened.

He laughed at me, obviously not taking my threat too seriously. And, honestly, why would he? I was chained to a wall for God's sake. "_Darling_, you are anything I want you to be. And I want you to be Rosemarie, my own personal blood-whore, and you will tell me how to get to the last Dragomir.

If possible, I grew angrier. "Why the fuck would I do that, you bastard?" I purposely looked away from him, knowing that he'd compel me into telling him if I looked straight at him. "I am not telling you anything, even if it would help impress your psychotic boss."

"You will help us one way or another," Jasper hissed, kicking me in the side. I winced at the sharp pain.

"You know what? I think you have a crush on Galina, and you're using me to try to get her to give you a chance. Well, guess what? You're second-best. She picked that asshat, Nathan, over you." I said cheerfully. "Here, I made up a poem for you. Maybe it'll help you understand why you don't stand a chance with any girl, alive or undead. 'Roses are red, violets are blue. I was born pretty, what the hell happened to you?'"

Jasper let out a strangled growl and flew forward, knocking me onto the ground. I whimpered in pain and curled into a ball as his fists rained down on me. I curled even tighter, trying to block out a world of pain and praying for it to end soon.

After what seemed like an eternity, the beating stopped. I relaxed ever so slightly, and as I regained my senses, I became aware of footsteps walking away from me and then a door opening and closing.

Slowly, I uncurled my body, wincing at the slight movement. I probably looked like one giant bruise. I examined my arms and legs. They were dirt-covered and bleeding. A closer examination led me to realize that they were already bruising and my left hand was mangled and gross-looking. At one point, I'd flung my hand out and his foot had immediately been there, stomping down on it. I was pretty sure every bone in my hand was crushed.

Moaning, I sat up and pulled myself over to the wall. I leaned against it and evaluated my situation. Now, I was a smart enough to girl to quickly deduce that this wasn't good. At all. There was an insane Strigoi that seemed hell-bent on getting information about Lissa out of me because we shared the bond—the bond. After Jasper's beating, what had happened to me before I was captured totally escaped my mind. Was the bond still intact?

A little frantic, I closed my eyes and concentrated, searching for the steady hum of emotions from Lissa that the bond was responsible for. I found them almost immediately and gave a silent sigh of relief before concentrating on Lissa's feelings.

She was hopeful. And anxious. She wanted me back, and felt guilty that she'd abandoned me. Frowning, I let go of her emotions for a second. How in the hell did _she_ abandon _me_? I was the one who'd run away. And why now was she hopeful?

Without a moment's hesitation, I dove into her, wanting answers. (**Dude! I just took a break from typing this chapter and I come back and see that 'answers' is the 666****th**** word! It's the devil's number!)**

Lissa was sitting inside a small café alone, drumming her fingers anxiously on the table. I took in more of her surroundings as her eyes wandered from the door and realized that she was at Court. She'd moved to court because it was her best shot at finding me. Right now, she was waiting for the person that had promised her a way to get me back.

The sound of the café's door opening made Lissa jump in surprise. Hurriedly, she turned to face the newcomer.

When she saw him, her heart leapt. Mine, however, sank.

The man standing in the doorway was none other than Abe Mazur, flashy scarf and all. He was a dangerous man; I had warned Lissa away from him when I'd been stuck in her body. She'd promised me she'd stay away from him, but now it was clear she was disregarding my warning and meeting up with him.

He spotted her almost immediately and sat down across from her. He didn't say anything, just sat there with that oh-so-annoying smirk of his.

After a few more seconds of silence, Lissa grew impatient. "Well? What's your plan?" Lissa demanded.

Instead of responding, Abe gave her a lazy smile and asked, "Princess, have you ever heard of the Alchemists?"

Baffled, Lissa blinked. "No," she said truthfully. "Is it some sort of Royal elitist group?"

Abe laughed. "Hardly. Alchemists are humans that, long ago, tried to make gold and do all this other stuff. Obviously, they didn't succeed, but they did stumble upon vampires. More specifically, they ran into Strigoi and then some vigilante dhampirs ended up saving them. As a result, the Moroi who was king at that time made a deal with the greedy Alchemists. The Alchemists would help the Moroi hide from the human world and in return, they would get tattoos that give them a dhampir's health and allow them to live longer than the average human. These tattoos are also charmed; they prevent the Alchemists from saying anything that could potentially give us away. They're stationed all over the world and they cover for us whenever we need them to. I'm not surprised you've never heard of them. Most Moroi haven't. In fact, dhampirs are only told after they graduate."

Lissa blinked, absorbing all of this information. I frowned, wishing that I'd known this, that I'd been able to attend my own graduation as myself. I remembered with bitter clarity our excuse for my "absence". A training accident resulting in the loss of my memory. The universe has a horrible sense of irony.

"Okay," Lissa said slowly. She was losing patience with Abe. "But how does that help Rose?"

Abe laughed again. "I'm a very… _influential _person, especially among the Alchemists. With just a couple of phone calls, I could have the Alchemists scrambling to find Rose. They have many connections so it shouldn't be hard to find her. Once they've successfully tracked her down, I can organize a patrol of guardians and retrieve her. We'll get her back here and the Queen will never know we're searching for her. She has enough sense to keep her nose out of my way." He sat back in his chair, looking very smug.

Lissa thought about it. She knew from Viktoria, Dimitri's younger sister, that most, if not all, of Abe's business was illegal. From his suit, it was clear he had the money to pull this plan off.

"Alright," she said finally. "I'm in,"

I pulled out of Lissa's head just in time to see the door creak open and the bastard Strigoi, Jasper, slip in with a chilling smile on his face.

**LPOV**

I took a deep breath. "All right. I'm in."

Abe smiled his mysterious and sorta creepy smile. "Good. I'll be in touch Princess," That said, he strolled to the door..

"Wait!" I practically yelled. The cashier looked at me curiously. I felt my gaze heat up, but stared haughtily at the woman until she dropped her gaze. "I don't understand," I said, turning back to Abe.

He sighed. "You don't understand what? The plan? Alchemists? Whatever it is, I'll explain more about it later, but right now—"

"No, I don't another explanation of the plan or the Alchemists. I got all that," I interrupted, slightly exasperated with him. "What I don't understand is _why_?"

Abe seemed taken aback. "Why?"

I nodded. "Why are you doing all this? You've helped us out once—which I still don't understand—and, no offense, but you don't seem like the kind of person who's willing to drop everything to do a favor for a Moroi princess and her slightly rude guardian. You barely know us. Why are you going to all this trouble to help us?"

As he processed my words, Abe was silent. "This is really nothing." He finally said. "It's not all that hard for me to pull it off."

"But, still, you've never met Rose, not really. You barely know her and yet, somehow, you found out what happened to her and you designed this plan, and then you contacted me. I don't care if it wasn't hard, you still bothered to care enough to do it. Why?" I pressed.

Abe surprised me by laughing. "You're wrong Princess, I do know Rose well. I care for her health and safety. That's why I help you."

I was puzzled, to say the least. How could he know Rose if Rose didn't know who he was? Unless Rose did know who he was, but had kept it from me. The thought of Rose keeping something from me hurt… and it was ridiculous. I immediately dismissed it as a paranoid, I've-been-watching-way –too many-mystery/horror-movies thought. "How can you know Rose? She doesn't know you," I said suspiciously.

"Our time is up," Abe said, standing. "I'll contact you once the Alchemists find something."

"What? But… You didn't answer my question!" I hissed at him, trying not to make a scene.

"Goodbye, Princess. I will see you soon." Then, in a flash of color, Abe was out the door and gone.

I stared after him and groaned in frustration. He was a slippery one, that Zmey. I'd never gotten a straight answer from him.

I strode out the door, making a decision. It was time I visited Adrian to see how he was coping. I hadn't seen him since I'd gotten off the plane, and I hadn't had an actual conversation since Rose lost her memory; that had really been the last straw for him. He'd started drinking heavily, even for him. It was useless trying to have an actual conversation with him; he'd forget anything you said to him a few seconds after you finished talking. I figured that since we were at court now and he'd be under the public eye, he might've made an attempt to slow down his alcohol intake and make himself presentable. I hoped so anyway.

I bit my lip uncertainly, debating whether I should go to the bars that littered the court in hidden places or go to his room first.

Deciding that Adrian was most likely getting drunk as much as I wished it otherwise, I headed to the nearest bar. It was one of his favorites, I knew. When we'd been here for Victor's trial, he'd taken me here on his tour of the behind-the-scenes life at court.

I stood inside the bar, looking around uncertainly. This particular bar was almost empty, save the bartender and a few older-looking Moroi. No Adrian. The bartender noticed me standing in the doorway and gave me a wide, creepy grin. I smiled back uneasily and scanned the bar one last time before stumbling outside into the fresh air. The scent of alcohol in there had been overpowering. Feeling slightly queasy, I headed to the next bar.

There was no sign of Adrian in the next bar either, though there were a few more people in this one. I took a few seconds to examine the Moroi in this one. They were all hurrying around with slightly frantic looks on their faces. I stopped one of them, a slender Moroi with soft grey eyes and light brown hair. Her eyes widened in recognition when she saw me. I suppressed a sigh.

"Excuse me," I said politely, wishing she'd stop staring at me in awe. "but have you seen Lord Adrian Ivashkov come through here?"

"No, Princess," The girl blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen Lord Ivashkov come here today. We're getting ready for Sir Brian Zeklos's birthday party, and this place is supposed to be closed to the public until 5pm." Though her tone was respectful, the accusation in her words was hard to miss.

I blushed, but tried to keep up my "royal" persona. "Of course. I apologize for interrupting. Carry on," I tilted my head at her graciously before turning to walk out as fast as I could without looking too silly. On to the next bar.

I came to a stop and sat down, leaning against some building. I'd already been to about 5 bars, with no sign of Adrian in any of them, though most of the bartenders had seemed to recognize Adrian's name, no surprise. I was on my way to the last bar that I knew of, though I was sure there were more. However, I wondered if I should just turn around and head to Adrian's room. Almost right after I thought that, I dismissed it. If Adrian wasn't in his room, I'd have to traipse all the way back here to check the bar.

Steeling myself for another encounter with a creepy bartender, (2 of the last 5 had tried to hit on me!) I headed into the bar.

This bar was by far the biggest one at Court. It stretched about 50 feet from the entrance and then looped back around, forming a giant oval. Carelessly, my eyes wandered up and down the front side of the bar, not really expecting to see Adrian. There were only a few Moroi in the corner, talking and laughing over some beer. I walked around to the other side of the bar, and my eyes immediately landed on a hunched figure with dark, messy hair. I couldn't see his face, but a smile broke out on mine.

"Adrian," I whispered to myself happily. As I approached him, my eyes took in the finer details of his appearance.

A tall bottle of vodka sat in front of him, half-empty. My hopes flared; if he'd drank just half a bottle in the five hours it had been since I'd last seen him, he should be able to have a real and decent conversation with me. I might even be able to tell him about Abe's plan to find Rose. Then, he could stop drinking and dream-walk to find Rose.

Then, my eyes strayed to the floor, and my hopes crashed in a fiery wave of disappointment and bitterness. There were two empty wine bottles at his feet and I was almost positive that he'd had more to drink, but there were no bottles or glasses to prove it.

As I watched, Adrian raised the vodka bottle to his lips and took a swig. I closed my eyes briefly before speaking.

"Please tell me you didn't drink all of that by yourself," I said. Adrian spun around and I forced myself to meet his eyes and give him a small smile. He looked terrible. He was drunk, obviously, and his eyes were bloodshot and baggy.

"Cousin," he slurred. "It's good to see you. Join me," He patted the seat next to him. Hesitantly, I sat down and watched him drink more vodka.

"I cannot believe you," I said, venom lacing my words. "Rose, the girl you claim to love, is missing and you're sitting in a bar, drinking yourself into oblivion and having a great time."

He stared at me for a few seconds before downing more vodka and answering. "I am not having a great time. I am fucking miserable." He stared at the countertop sadly.

I reached over and grabbed the alcohol from his hand. "Then why the hell do you keep drinking? Alcohol is not going to help anything!" I was shouting now, feeling like a mother chastising my misbehaving child.

"Drinking is my way of coping with the pain, Lissa," Adrian hissed, and lunged for the bottle. I didn't even have to move. He totally missed me and fell off his chair and onto his ass. Had he not been drunk as hell and I not as pissed, I would've found it funny.

I knelt to the ground and stared at him. "I'm hurting too, but I am not drinking whatever the hell you have in this bottle." I glanced at the label doubtfully. It was in another language, with strange symbols. Cyrillic maybe?

"It's Russian vodka," Adrian said, confirming my theory. "It gets the job done, let me tell you,"

My anger rose. "You are pathetic," I spat. "Getting drunk is not doing anyone, especially Rose, any good. You should be doing something to try and find her, like dream-walking."

Adrian's eyes narrowed, and I knew that this conversation had sobered him up. "Rose doesn't want to be found." He said grimly. "She doesn't want anything to do with us. If she did, she wouldn't have run away. What's the point of looking for someone who doesn't want to know you?"

I stopped my next angry words from tumbling out and I stared at him, feeling his hopelessness and suddenly sharing it with him. He was right. Rose didn't want us. And, suddenly, watching him, I felt sorry for the both of us.

**Aaand done! Wow that was long… But I wanted you guys to get a look at our poor, poor Adrian…**

**Review and don't kill me? He'll get better…**

**Oh, and my NEWS: Once this story is over, I will be posting a new story. No, it has nothing to do with this story, but I'm SUPER excited to write it. I've got notes on it, and a pretty detailed outline, so I'm going to get started on that after I finish this :) **


	16. Chapter 16

**Rose's POV this chapter :) And we get to see some more of Jasper, everyone's favorite Strigoi! Yay! *rolls eyes***

**Disclaimer: I own only Jasper and Felix (who, regrettably, is not in this chapter), though if Richelle wants to own Jasper, I'll gladly trade him for Christian :) **

**MOLLY: Whoopsy, I forgot to tell you guys about the story… Lmao, the whole 666 and 2:34 thing makes me laugh soo hard :)**

**HEY EVERYONE! READ THE BOTTOM AN IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILS ABOUT MY NEW STORY!**

**RPOV**

"What do you want?" I spat at Jasper.

"Shut up, slut," Jasper growled. Slowly, he walked toward me and grabbed my hair. Fear pricked at my mind.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screeched. Briefly, I contemplated struggling, but knew that that would only result in me getting my hair tugged viciously.

He tugged my hair lightly anyway and responded, "I almost forgot to feed," He tugged my hair again harder this time and I instinctively jerked my head back, exposing my neck. I struggled to bring my head back up, but his hand locked me in place.

Fearfully, I watched his face get closer. He caressed my neck with his free hand.

"Beautiful," he murmured, and then he was biting me. The flare of pain as his teeth punctured my skin was soon carried off on a wave euphoria as the endorphins kicked in.

Strigoi endorphins were much stronger than a Moroi's. I closed my eyes and moaned as pure bliss shot through me. The high was amazing—one of the best feelings in the world. And then, too soon, it was over.

Dazed, I felt a goofy smile break out on my face. Jasper leaned in and my breathing quickened. Was he going to bite me again? I waited in anticipation.

But he didn't bite me again. Instead, he kissed me. In my weakened disoriented state, it took me a few seconds to register what he was doing. I struggled weakly against him, but he just pressed me closer. His kiss grew deeper, more demanding and in desperation, I bit his lip.

He pulled back almost immediately, his features alight with fury. Without saying anything, he backhanded me and my world turned upside down as I went sprawling onto the dirt-covered floor.

"You disgust me, dhampir," He scowled at me, I blinked and dizzily tried to sit up.

"Your face disgusts me," I managed to get out. Yea, lame, but the best I could come up with at that moment.

Jasper knelt down to my level and grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. "I'll be back in a few hours. Be ready to talk." He released me and stood up, leaving my room.

Miserable, cold, and hungry, I sat up and drew my knees to my chest, allowing one small tear to slip down my cheek. The next few hours I spent in a daze, only half-awake.

The slamming of my prison door alerted me to the presence of Jasper. He pushed me onto my side, where I curled up in the fetal position. No way in hell was I going to make this easy for him.

"On your back!" Jasper barked. When I didn't immediately do as he wanted, he forced me to lay like he wanted me to. My hands were still chained to the wall, but he unchained them and told me to stretch them out on either side of me. I did as he demanded without comment, hoping that I could get a chance to escape soon.

Once Jasper was satisfied with my position, he placed on booted foot on my left arm. "Now, Rose," he said pleasantly. "Where is Vasilisa Dragomir?"

"Yea, like I'm going to tell you." I snorted. "Hey, I came up with another poem that I dedicated to you. Ready to hear it?" His fist lashed out, hitting me in the stomach and taking my breath away momentarily. "Ow," I wheezed. "I'm going to take that as a yes. Here goes: My feelings for you no words can tell. Except for maybe 'go to hell'," I beamed.

He punched me again, this time in the ribs. "Where is Vasilisa Dragomir?" He repeated in a low voice.

"She's somewhere in the world," I said, careful to answer his question and not give anything away.

"Where is she, specifically?" He growled.

"Well, she's not in Switzerland," I told him in a cheerful tone.

"Wrong answer," And then he stepped on my am as hard as he could. Pain shot through my arm and I heard something crack. I screamed. He brought his foot down on my arm again and the pain was too much. I was conscious of his angry face looming above mine and then everything went dark.

Days passed and the torture sessions continued. Jasper would come in and drag me into the position he wanted me in. At first, I tried to fight back and escape, but after he slashed my shoulder open, I stopped trying.

He asked me questions and I would with sarcastic remarks, which just got me new bruises. But I didn't give in to him, not on this. Lissa's safety was my priority. I would not reveal anything that could possibly lead them to her.

About a week and a half after my capture, I woke up and found my arms chained to the ceiling above me. Thankfully, I was sitting so it was a fairly manageable position.

"Hello again, pretty little blood whore. How are you my darling?" Jasper purred, entering the room.

I glared at him. "What the hell kind of question is that?" I demanded. "My hands are dangling above my head and my left arm is broken. You're a terrible host!"

He only laughed at me and walked over to a rope that was dangling from the ceiling. I'd been so distracted by his ugly-ass face that I hadn't even noticed it.

"Darling, we're going to try a different method today. Galina is tiring of waiting for your cooperation; she wants the answers now. You see this rope? It's connected to the rope that's tied around your hands. When I pull on it, you will be dragged up and held up by your hands. And you will hang there until you answer me. Just in case you don't cooperate readily, one of my friends has a whip. He will hit you with it, repeatedly. He is very… whip-happy."

"Oh, just like you're man-happy?" I asked brightly. "Is that why you sparkle, Jazzy? Men make you a happy boy?"

His face grew dark, but he didn't yank on the rope yet. "Where is the Princess Dragomir?"

I laughed. "She's… somewhere. And she may or may not be eating donuts." I gave a small yelp as the rope binding my hands tightened and pulled me up.

"Is she at the Royal Court?" He pressed, pretending like I hadn't said anything and I wasn't dangling 20 feet in the air. This ceiling was amazingly high.

"I dunno. Does the court have donuts? Because she might be there then. But, if she is eating a donut, it's not likely she's at court." I gave him an innocent smile, ignoring the sharp pain in my left arm.

He hissed and released the rope. I felt myself falling for an instant and then he yanked the rope again. My arms jerked up, creating immense pain in my shoulders.

"Robert," Jasper called, and another Strigoi darted into the room, looking murderous as only a Strigoi can. My eyes widened involuntarily when I saw the very long, very thick whip he was holding. At my expression, they both grinned. I immediately hardened my face. I refused to show fear. Robert snickered.

I glared at him and stuck out my tongue. The smile dropped off, and I was aware of his wrist flicking the whip and the a stinging sensation on the left side of my face. I hissed in pain.

"How do we get to Vasilisa?" Jasper asked in an emotionless voice.

I glared at him, feeling the heat rise to my injured cheek. "Like I'm going to tell you. Your buddy with the whip hit my good side!"

Again the whip lashed out and this time, it wrapped around my foot. Immediately, I began kicking my leg, trying to get Robert to release the whip. He tugged on the whip, trying to get it unwrapped. Unfortunately, he tugged too hard and the rope holding up my arms snapped. I fell, instinctively tucking in my legs. Robert snarled and yanked on the whip again, throwing me off balance. Instead of landing safely like I'd hoped, I landed on my arm—the bad one.

There was a sharp pain and then I shrieked and everything went dark yet again.

**LPOV**

When I walked into my room, movement on my bed caught my attention. Thinking some psycho had broken into my room, I freaked out.

"Get away from me!" I shrieked, grabbing for the nearest object I could find—a picture frame, empty of course.

My intruder was a girl, a little older than me. She had short dark hair and brown eyes. Eying the picture frame in my hand, she took a small step towards me.

I clenched it tighter and screamed for help. This girl, how had she gotten into my room? And what did she want? "Who the hell are you?" I shouted at her.

The girl's eyes widened. "Princess, calm down. I'm your new guardian—"

Frantic pounding on my door interrupted her. I relaxed slightly, feeling stupid. Of course this was Serena. Tatiana had even told me she'd be in my room. I smiled at her tentatively.

"Liss? Lissa, open the door!" Christian's panicked voice floated through the door.

I blushed and opened it. Christian burst into my apartment, grabbing my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He demanded. "I heard you scream!"

"I'm fine, it was just a misunderstanding," I giggled, a thought striking me. "You know, you could have just burned the door down. That would have been wise if I'd actually been in danger."

Christian flushed and avoided my gaze. "Yea, well, I guess, but—" He broke off, staring at my new guardian, who was now standing in the hallway looking slightly awkward. "Who is she?" he asked bluntly

"Serena. She's my new guardian," I turned to her anxiously. "That is your name, right?"

Serena nodded, that damned guardian poker face on her face. "Yes, Princess,"

"Please call me Lissa. There's no reason to be so formal right now." I gritted my teeth. I hated my title.

Serena nodded again, looking around with a hint of suspicion on her face. "Where is Guardian Hathaway? I was told she was your other guardian."

Christian gripped my hand a little tighter than necessary when Serena mentioned Rose. I forced a smile. "Rose is helping out at St. Vladimir's Academy right now. They needed her more than I did," I explained.

Christian sighed. "Liss, I think Serena deserves to know the truth—"

I cut him off. "So she can report to the Queen and have her replaced?" I hissed at him furiously. "Not a chance,"

"If you swear her to secrecy, she won't tell," Christian argued. I glanced at Serena nervously. She was doing that "seeing-without-seeing" thing that I'd seen Dimitri and Rose doing before and pretending she couldn't hear us.

I sighed, knowing he was right. "Fine," I muttered. "Serena, you have to swear to me that you will not tell a single person what I'm going to tell you. If you do, you will regret it." I told her darkly.

"I will not tell anyone," Serena stated dutifully.

I hesitated. "Rose… isn't at St. Vlad's. She ran away a week and a half ago because she lost her memory. I'm doing everything I can to get her back, but if the Queen finds out Rose deserted her charge, she'll dismiss her as a traitor and as good as dead and I'll get a new guardian. That cannot happen," I stared at her intently.

Her mask slipped and I saw how surprised she was. Then it was back and she responded to me with almost no emotion. "I promise not to tell anyone. If there is anything I can do, please tell me."

"I will. And, Serena, you can show you emotions when we're not in public. I'm not going to punish you. You're a person; I know you have feelings too."

Serena smiled and I saw the gratitude in her eyes. Why some Moroi treated their guardians like they were robots was beyond me. "Thank you Princes—Lissa. Which room is mine?"

"There are three rooms and 1 bathroom right? And the master bedroom has its own bathroom." I pondered. "Well, you and Rose can have the two smaller rooms. I have a feeling I'll be needing the bigger bed," I smiled at Christian and then looked at Serena. She had her guardian mask in place again. I suppressed a sigh and turned back to Christian.

"So I spoke with Abe," I said, not letting any emotion show. His eyes lit up.

"Really? What's his plan?" A hopeful desperation tinged his voice. I understood it completely. Abe was our last chance at finding Rose. She was like a sister to both me and Christian.

I shrugged. "His plan will work, he thinks. He has people and connections that he's going to use to try and find Rose. Abe left pretty abruptly so he didn't go into much detail. But he has something big planned, I'm sure of it." I decided not to explain about the Alchemists right now. "How's Dimitri?"

Christian sighed. "He's better. Last time I saw him, he actually looked like a human. I think he really took the whole plane thing about moving on to heart."

Groaning, I dropped my head into my hands. "Of course he did. And now I have to pretend like I'm trying to move on from Rose when, in reality, I'm part of some insane mobster's plan to get him back!"

Christian shot an uneasy glance down the hallway toward Serena's room. "It'll all work out, Liss. We'll find Rose and then you won't have to pretend anymore."

Tears started running down my face. "Why did she leave us?" I cried, giving a pathetic sniffle.

Christian stiffened for a moment, caught off guard, then pulled me to him. "She didn't want us to be agonizing over her," he said softly. "She didn't know who we were, but she hated hurting us. Rose probably figured that leaving was the least painful solution. It's what I'd do too,"

Burying my face in his chest, I sobbed harder as I remembered Adrian's sorrowful words."Ad-Adrian said i-it was because she didn't want anything to do with us. She-she left because she didn't care enough to stay!"

"Adrian is a drunken idiot. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Anger filled Christian's voice.

"Don't say that," I whispered hoarsely. "He's hurting and angry." I kissed him softly. "Will you stay with me tonight? Just-just hold me. Protect me?"

Christian's icy blue eyes softened. "Of course, Lissa. I'll always protect you."

I grabbed his hand and walked down the hallway, stopping at Serena's doorway. "Serena! Christian's spending the night."

Serena appeared, looking flustered. "Of course Lissa. Do you want me to leave?" she asked, obviously uncomfortable.

As I caught her meaning, I flushed, embarrassed. "No! I-I mean, we're not going to do anything!" I turned redder.

Serena looked equally embarrassed, "Okay. Um, goodnight Princess"

"Lissa. Good night Serena,"

With Christian stroking my hair and holding me close, I fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.

**Whoo-hoo! LxC time! **

**Damn, Rose just can't catch a break, can she?**

**NEW STORY: Basically, it's about the love triangle between Tatiana, Janine, and Abe, except it's not just about them… It's about more than Janine and Abe's relationship. And I'm super-excited to start it!**

**Review?**


	17. Chapter 17

**So some of you have said you like my sense of humor… Thank you guys! :D**

**Thank you all for you lovely reviews! I love you all :D**

**I've been sick lately, so I've mostly been sleeping and stuff… If I didn't respond to your reviews, that is probably why… But I still have to go to school today! The injustice! **

**LPOV**

I was on alert for the next few days, scanning the area I was in for Abe. Surely there must be some news on Rose. He'd said the Alchemists were efficient. And I hadn't seen Adrian since that first day in the bar. I assumed the Queen was trying to keep him from the public eye until he pulled himself together.

Sensing my anxiety, Christian grabbed my hand and pulled me into some breakfast restaurant.

"You need to relax. I hear this place has awesome pancakes," he said with a smile.

I tried to force myself to smile back and look happy even as my eyes wandered around the restaurant looking for Abe.

Apparently I wasn't convincing because Christian gave a long sigh and led me to an empty table. A waiter appeared almost instantly with a fake but friendly smile plastered on his face.

"Hi, my name is Steven. I'm your waiter for today. Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked cheerily.

"I'll just have some coffee," Christian said. "Liss, what do you want?"

I scanned their drink menu for lemonade, but saw no lemonade. What kind of restaurant doesn't have lemonade? (**Lol, taking out my frustrations at a certain restaurant that didn't have any lemonade OR Dr. Pepper. Like, WTF? What kind of restaurant are you? Rant over, hehe) **Letting out a disappointed sigh, I turned my attention back to Steven. "I guess I'll just have orange juice." Steven nodded and departed abruptly.

"Are you going to eat anything?" Christian asked, opening his own menu. He knew I wasn't a big breakfast person. And with the mess my life was currently in, I wasn't a very big dinner or lunch person either. I could see that he was worried about my recent lack of appetite, so I decided that I would try to eat something.

I grimaced. "Yea, I'll try. Do you think this place has donuts?"

Christian laughed. "We can ask. They're a breakfast place. They should have donuts."

"I wouldn't count on it. They didn't have lemonade," I pouted, only half-kidding. I love my lemonade.

Christian started to respond, but Steven came back with our drinks. "Are you ready to order now Lord Ozera?" Steven asked in a polite voice, though there was an unfriendly feeling in his face. Clearly, Steven had issues with the Ozera family, like most Moroi.

Christian must have sensed it too, because his smile shifted from friendly to demeaning. "I'm above you and there's nothing you can do about it" was what his face screamed. "Just get me some pancakes," Christian said in true Royal fashion. He started to hand the menu to Steven, but just before the waiter grabbed it, it "accidentally" fell to the floor.

Glowering, he knelt down and picked it up. "What about you Princess Dragomir?"

Coughing to hide my laughter, I asked, "Do you have any chocolate-glazed donuts?"

"I believe so. How many?"

I debated. "Um, how about five? Thanks," Steven left to put in our orders and Christian turned to look at me, shocked.

"Five donuts? I thought you weren't hungry."

"Relax, they're not all for me," I scoffed. "I'm just going to eat two and then give the rest to Rose." I laughed lightly, the sentence coming out of my mouth naturally.

Christian smiled for a brief second, then froze, sadness shadowing his face. "Oh, Liss," he sighed. "Rose is—"

"Gone, dammit. I know," I said as I stood up abruptly with tears in my eyes. How could I have forgotten that so easily? "Christian—I'm so sorry—I just—I have to go. Sorry," With that, I ran out the door, blinking the tears away furiously.

"Lissa!" A voice called out from behind me. I turned to see Felix jogging to catch up to me. I stopped and gave him a weak smile as he drew nearer.

"Felix, hey. How are you?"

"Fine. Almost ran into Anastasiya back there though. That would have been disastrous." He exhaled slowly and took a closer look at me. "Hey, are you okay?"

My lips quivered as I shook my head. "I think I'm going crazy, Felix. I just—I don't know what to do without her." To my complete and utter embarrassment, I felt the tears spill over and pour down my face.

Felix's eyes widened in alarm. Obviously, he didn't know how to respond when a girl cries in front of him and he's the only other person around. "It's okay," he said softly. "Wanna go back to your room?"

Feeling like a big crybaby (**Cuz you ARE, Lissa! Jk, kinda)**, I sniffled and nodded, turning to walk back the way Felix had just run up from. Felix grabbed my arm and started steering me back the direction I'd been heading before he showed up.

"Where are we going?" I asked, confused. Then I remembered that Felix had said Anastasiya had been over that way. "Oh. Right,"

Felix nodded grimly. "Yea," Something about the way he said it alerted me that there was more to his almost-encounter with Asya than he was letting on.

I tried to put my own overwhelming emotions to the side and focus solely on Felix and his dilemma. "Felix? There was more to it than just seeing her wasn't there?"

He glanced at me very briefly. "She was with another guy. Her new boyfriend, I suppose. They were holding hands," His voice held no emotion, but I knew how much this had to be hurting him. He obviously had loved her. True, it wasn't as strong as Rose and Dimitri's love for each other, or even mine and Christian's, but the feeling was still there. And she was a heartless bitch who didn't—and probably never had or would—reciprocate his feelings. I grasped his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "It's only been a week and a half. And that wasn't even the same guy I caught her cheating on me with." Here, his voice did break.

"She was with _another _guy?" All the politeness and manners in the world couldn't mask my disgust. What a slut.

"Yea. Can we please not dwell on the subject?" Felix asked pleadingly.

I understood and nodded. "Of course. Have you seen Dimitri? I haven't seen him since we got here and I'm worried about him,"

Felix sighed. "I've been avoiding him," he admitted ruefully, smiling slightly. "We had a little disagreement on the plane." As he was about to continue, I spotted someone standing in the shadows. My heart leapt.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," I said, distracted by the figure. "He's your brother. You should fix things with him." If only I could see them more clearly. There. He shifted and now I was positive it was him.

"Yea, but—"

"Look, there's something I have to do. It's really important, about Rose. If you run into Christian, can you tell him to meet me in my room?"

Bewildered, Felix nodded. I gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Felix," I hurried off towards the figure. When I was about 6 feet away, I called out, "Abe Mazur!"

Grinning slightly as he always was, he stepped forward out of the shadows. "Hello, Princess,"

"Any news on Rose?" I asked eagerly.

His grin widened. "Perhaps. The day after Rose disappeared from the Academy, Strigoi activity was noted in the little town just up the road, in the opposite direction of Missoula."

Shock ran through me and for a second, I couldn't breathe. I'd wanted information, but this… this was not good. "You mean, they suspect the Strigoi kidnapped her?" I asked fearfully.

He nodded grimly. "I had the Alchemists do some investigating in the area. In one of the abandoned warehouses just outside the town, there were signs of a fight. Whoever it was got dragged off, probably unconscious."

"So there's a chance that Rose might still be alive?" I asked hopefully, looking at him.

"Oh, there's a very good chance. Because of the bond, the Strigoi might be using her to get information out of her about you." Abe nodded at me, like that was supposed to reassure me.

An uneasy feeling stirred up in my stomach. "But… Rose doesn't know who I am. How can they possibly expect to get anything useful out of her?"

"They won't keep her for very long. Strigoi are impatient; that means we don't have much time if we want her back relatively undamaged." Abe said briskly.

Anxiety now started to claw at me. "Do you know where she is?" I bit my lip, dreading his answer; he didn't know where she was, and she ended up dying, I would never forgive myself.

"I had the Alchemists ask around the town to see if they noticed anything suspicious or different. A few people recalled seeing a Washington license plate. One man even wrote it down as proof that he saw it. Apparently, seeing license plates from out of state are very rare there." He paused and smiled broadly now. "The Alchemists traced it, and the car is registered in Seattle."

I perked up. "Rose is in Seattle? Where? Have you found her yet?"

Abe shook his head and pursed his lips. "We haven't pinpointed her précised location, but we have a pretty good idea of where she might be. I have a team of guardians ready to go. Do you want me to send them in?" he asked.

"Hell yes! I need my best friend back!" I exclaimed. "But hurry! I want her back relatively unharmed,"

Abe bowed. "Of course Princess. I will keep you updated."

"You better!" I called after him as he started walking away. Already, his phone was in his hand and he was speaking softly into it.

I ran all the way back to my apartment.

**Who's now Team Abe? I am! I love that guy… And who wants to beat Anastasiya to a pulp? You? And you? And you guys too? Well, you can't have her yet. I'll give her to you once I'm done with her… But she'll play a very important role in the next twist… **

**Review and I'll give you your very own Asya punching bag and an awesome mobster poster of Abe!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Laa! So, remember how I said I needed to get Mason back into the story? …Yea, this chapter is beginning of that process… **

**Thankyouthankyouthankyou for your reviews! **

**RPOV**

"Rosie-posie," Jasper cooed as he stepped into my room. "I have some news for you. Galina is getting tired of waiting for you to tell us what we want. She's sick of your game playing; we all are. This is your last chance."

"My last chance to do what? Convince you to wear a paper bag over that hideous thing you consider a face?" I snarled. Seriously, he was pissing me off. I was so over this being captured by Strigoi thing. It was just fucking annoying.

Jasper kicked me in the stomach. I bit my tongue to keep from making a sound and letting him know how much that had hurt.

"No, you stupid dhampir," he hissed angrily. I snorted. Clearly, he was bipolar. Just five seconds ago, he'd been calling me "Rosie-posie" "This is your last chance to give us the information we need about the last Dragomir before we turn you Strigoi, have you give us the information, and then kill you."

"You mean she wasn't performing live at a rock n' roll concert last night?" I cocked my head to the side, looking confused. "Damn, I thought for sure that was what she was doing last night."

Jasper yanked me up by my hair. "If you don't tell us how to get to her, I will turn you into one of us. And then I will kill you just for the hell of it." He hissed. Terror ran through me, but I put on a bored face.

"Fuck off." And then I spit in his face.

"You'll regret that, bitch," he hissed, and sunk his teeth into my throat.

In that one second of clarity and pain just before the endorphins kicked in, I screamed and struggled to get away. His teeth raked across my neck just as I started to feel the endorphin high. Jasper released me and I felt the blood gushing freely, painfully.

His red eyes, eager and hungry, loomed over me. Moaning, I felt myself slipping away and then his eyes were the only things I was conscious of. There was a crash and some shouting. I saw his eyes disappear for a brief second, then return full of fear. I heard a few more yells and bangs and then Jasper's eyes disappeared and I was gone.

**LPOV**

Me, Christian, Dimitri, and Serena were all sitting on my bed. I was balling the sheets up nervously with my hands while Christian rubbed my shoulders to calm me down. Serena looked slightly worried and Dimitri was confused; I'd called him and told him to get his Russian ass to my room immediately. He still didn't know why I was so frantic and it had been three hours since I's spoken to Abe. All four of us were sitting in a circle, staring at my phone.

It rang, and I immediately pounced on it.

"Hello, Abe?" I asked hopefully, then started berating myself in my head. What if it wasn't him, and I missed his call while I was talking to whoever it was?

"Hello Princess. Yes, it's Abe," His voice betrayed absolutely no emotion. "We found Rose."

"You found her?" I shrieked. Christian looked up at me hopefully, his blue eyes wide. "Well, where was she? Is she alright?"

"She's… She was in the basement of an old bank that was shut down after a fire a long time ago. We killed the Strigoi that were keeping her there." Abe answered.

Getting more and more worried by the second, I repeated my question. "Is she okay?"

There was a long pause. By the time Abe finally responded, I was practically crying. "Rose is in a human hospital here in Seattle. That's why I called Princess… She lost a lot of blood. They're bringing her in for blood transfusions in about fifteen minutes, but there's a good chance she might die anyway."

I closed my eyes in despair. Sensing something was amiss (**Yay! Fun word!), **Christian was at my side in an instant, leading me back to the bed. "Rose is gonna die?" I whispered, feeling sick.

Christian stopped pacing. Dmitri almost fell off the bed when I said Rose's name. "Rose? Where is she?" He cried. The longing and desperation in Dimitri's voice was almost painful to hear.

"I didn't say that. But you need to get here, now," Abe said urgently. "If you're lucky, you'll get here before the transfusions are complete."

"Thanks Abe. Bye!" I slammed the phone shut and jumped up. Grabbing my coat, I turned to Christian. "We need to go. Now."

Christian stood up, alarmed. "Lissa, what's going on?" he asked, following me into the main hall. Serena hovered behind him, watchful and alert. Grabbing my purse, I scanned the hall for my shoes.

"Shoes, shoes. Goddammit, where are my shoes?" I screamed, frustrated. Rose needed me. Wordlessly, Serena pointed them out to me. They were right by the door.

Dimitri paced next to me. "Where is Roza? Is she alive?" he demanded, his voice made uneven by fear.

"I'll explain everything on the way to Seattle. Christian, where is Felix?" I asked nervously, checking my watch. Time was wasting.

"With Adrian. I sent him to try to keep Adrian sober in case we—or Rose—needed him." Christian replied, flinging open the door. "I'll go get them and meet you at the airport."

"Why would Rose need Adrian?" Dimitri asked. I hid a smile. Dimitri was jealous.

"I don't know. Just help me." Christian rolled his eyes at me. "And stop getting so jealous." Dimitri's cheeks got a little darker, but he followed Christian out the door without another word.

"Come on Serena. Rose needs us," I said, and took off running. Soon it would be dawn and once the sun was out, there was zero chance of a jet leaving the court.

Serena kept pace with me easily, despite the fact that my lungs were burning and I was running as fast as I could. Suddenly, I had a new respect for the guardians' training.

We reached the mini airport just as the sun was peeking above the trees. I skidded to a stop in front of a male Moroi and put my hands on my knees, trying desperately to get my breathing under control so I could talk.

When it became obvious I was incapable of speech, Serena spoke up. "We need a jet—now." I glanced up at her, shocked. She wasn't even slightly winded! What the hell? How was that even possible?

The Moroi looked baffled. I didn't blame him for being confused. This whole scene probably looked freakishly weird. "I'm sorry, but we're closed. I'm locking up."

My head shot up. "Please, this is important. It can't wait until tomorrow," I begged.

"I'm sorry Princess," he said apologetically, "but we're closed. And there are no pilots here anyway." Okay, time for Plan B.

I gave him a charming smile. "Do you know how to fly a plane?" I asked sweetly. Beside me, Serena shifted uncomfortably, probably guessing what I was about to do.

He blinked, taken aback by my sudden change in attitude. "Well, yes, but—"

"Great," My smile dropped and I stared deep into his eyes. "Take us to Seattle," I said, willing him to listen to me. Confused, he blinked and tried to shake off the compulsion. I pushed harder, narrowing my eyes. His expression slackened as the compulsion took hold of him. For a brief moment, I felt guilty, but it passed quickly. Right now, getting to Seattle and Rose was my main concern.

"Of course, Princess," he said, giving me a bland smile. I blinked, dropping the compulsion. He stood still for a few seconds, disoriented, but shook it off quickly. "Right this way, Princess."

I gave him a gracious, regal smile and looked at his name tag. "Thank you, Henry." I stole a quick glance at Serena, who looked back, clearly uncomfortable with my use of compulsion. "Serena, stop staring!" I hissed, suddenly annoyed. Serena immediately averted her gaze to a bush. A shout made me turn around. Christian and Felix were walking towards us, supporting a terrible-looking Adrian between them. Dimitri trailed behind them, eying Adrian with disgust. Giving a small snort—jealousy was not a good color on Dimitri—I turned to Serena.

"Go help them. I'll watch Henry," I said. She nodded and jogged towards them. I tapped Henry on the shoulder. "Henry, could we slow down? My friends are back there and I don't want them to get lost." I said sweetly.

"Oh, of course." Obediently, he slowed his steps. We passed one jet and were approaching another, but Henry didn't seem to want to take that one either. My patience was beginning to waver.

"Henry," I snapped. "Stop. We're taking that one." I pointed to the one we were standing in front of. It was smaller than most of the others, but it was big enough to hold all of us and then some.

"But that's not my—"he started to protest.

"I don't fucking care you moron. Get out the damn keys and let us onto the fucking plane! We're in a hurry if you haven't noticed." My words were harsh, but I really didn't care at this point. Henry was really starting to piss me off.

Henry looked like I had just slapped him across the face, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he took out his keys and opened the door to the jet. I stepped into it and sat down with a sigh.

I closed my eyes only to open them a few seconds later as Dimitri entered, coming in backwards. He grunted and staggered back with Adrian hanging on to him. He appeared to be only semi-conscious.

I found myself getting more and more frustrated with Adrian. "Good God, Adrian. Why are you so fucking drunk all the time?"

Looking at me closely, Dimitri frowned. "He's not drunk. He's exhausted. Princess… are you okay?"

"My name is Lissa!" I screamed at him just as Christian and Felix stepped into the jet. They exchanged looks and Felix kind of looked like he wished he could leave.

Henry's worried voice came over the intercom. "Is everything all right back there?" Evidently he'd heard me yelling.

"Everything is fine!" I screeched back at him. "Just start the plane!" Christian sat down next to me and took my hand as the engine sprang to life.

"Lissa, calm down," he said in a low voice.

"I'm as calm as I can be." I said through gritted teeth. "My best friend's about to die and I'm on a fucking plane! How am I supposed to act?" Okay, so maybe Rose was rubbing off on me.

"Rose… How did you find her?" Dimitri asked in a tight voice. Looking at him, I realized that he was scared for her, even though he didn't know what the hell was going on.

"Well, I didn't find her. Abe—that mobster guy—did. He contacted me right before we left the Academy and told me he had a plan to get Rose back if I would meet with him at Court. I only told Christian and Serena about it. And I had to lie to you because if you knew, you'd want to go out and rescue her. Rose would kill me if anything were to happen to you while I was watching you. Plus your depression was really starting to get to me and if I told you we could save her and it turned out we couldn't you'd get even more depressed. I couldn't take that risk."

Dimitri, nodded, accepting my explanation. "But where is she now and why is her life in danger?"

"She was in Seattle when Abe found her. Some Strigoi were there and he suspected they were holding her captive and torturing her. So he organized a team of guardians. Evidently she was there, but Abe said her injuries were extensive and she lost a lot of blood. They couldn't risk taking her to a human hospital. So they took her to a human hospital. She needed blood transfusions." I looked down and whispered, "Abe doesn't think she'll make it." And then I started crying.

**Oh Lord Lissa gets on my nerves! I HATE HER. Sorry guys but I really really do. **

**So who thinks Rose will make it? Review and let me know. And MAYBE I'll send you a care package, complete with your very VA GUY! Whichever one you want ;) (Mason, Eddie, Christian, Dimitri, Adrian, Ambrose, Nathan the Strigoi, Adrian's dad, Stan… [Hey, I'm not here to judge. You want Stan? Go for it]) **

**REVIEW for your care package!**


	19. Chapter 19

**So, someone pointed out to me last chapter that I said "They couldn't take her to a human hospital… So they took her to a human hospital." Obviously, that doesn't make sense. What I MEANT was that they couldn't take her to a MOROI hospital so they took her to a human hospital.**

**And if you haven't received a care package yet, I'm trying to respond to your reviews now, because I FINALLY got my email working again**

**Okay, so after this chapter, please don't kill me…**

**RPOV **

Slowly, I came to my senses. A blinding pain exploded in my chest and spread throughout my body, I screamed and arched my back, writhing, trying to get away from the searing agony.

Shouts broke out around me and all was chaos. "What the hell?" "Why is she awake?" "The sedation must have worn off!" "Quick, give her more before…" Their voices trailed off, and the pain receded. Something very big rushed at me and there was a swooping sensation and then I knew nothing.

When I came to again, I found myself staring into wide, shocked blue eyes.

"Mason!"

**LPOV**

Christian held me close and murmured soothing things into my ear. Eventually, I fell asleep in his arms. (**A/N: Sorry, but I didn't want to write down a whole bunch of crap that's not important right now. Besides, I bet you're all confused about Rose right?) **

When I woke up, we were sitting in a hospital room. Well, everyone else was sitting. I was lying on a cot next to an empty hospital bed. I pushed myself up, blinking away the grogginess.

"Christian?" I yawned, spotting him in the corner. "Where are we?"

He stood up, stretching. "We're in the hospital. Rose is in surgery right now."

"Why didn't you just wake me up? I could've healed her, instead of having her get surgery for everything." I asked

"Rose hasn't undergone any surgery for her injuries yet. She needs blood transfusions first." Christian said, taking my hand. "Besides, we're in a human hospital. They don't know about Moroi, or healing. They'd find it very suspicious if Rose miraculously healed overnight.

Damn. He was right. I slouched back and sighed. "Is there any news on how the surgery's going?"

Looking regretful, Christian shook his head. "Abe paid someone off to give us updates on Rose, but there hasn't been anything so far."

"Wait—Abe paid someone off?" I stared at Christian incredulously.

"Well, either that or he blackmailed someone," Christian shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

"No, I guess not," I admitted sheepishly. "I just—" I was interrupted as the door opened.

A harassed-looking assistant stepped in followed by an expressionless Abe.

"Tell us what you know," he demanded.

"Rosemarie's surgery was going well and the doctors were hopeful, up until ten minutes ago," he began, looking nervously at Abe. I bit my lip, waiting. "Somehow, the anesthesia wore we gave her wore off and she woke up." My stomach lurched and I felt sick. "She, well, uh, her heart stopped shortly after, before we could administer more anesthesia. They're doing everything they can, but it's up to how strong Rosemarie is now. I wouldn't get my hopes up though," With that , the assistant left.

Abe followed him, looking furious. I feared for anyone who got in his way. Numb, I turned onto my side and curled up into a ball, letting my long hair shield my face.

Christian sat on the edge of my cot. "Lissa—"

"Leave me alone." My voice was muffled. Tears started sliding down my face. Why did everything have to happen to me and Rose?

"Lissa, Rose is strong. She'll be fine." Christian said. I felt him shift closer to me and then his hand ran through my hair.

I shifted away from him, hiding as best I could. "Just leave me alone."

Sighing, Christian got up. "No, Liss. I am going to stay right here. You—"

Anger shot through me and the darkness that I'd been barely holding back broke through. I shot up, facing him. "Stay the hell away from me!" I screamed. "You don't even care about her, why the _fuck_ are you here?"

He backed away slightly, his eyes never leaving my face. Realization crossed them as he realized how ridiculously mad I was. "Of course I care about her. She's like my sister—"

"Shut up, Christian. Leave me the hell alone," I hissed at him. I was literally seeing red and, if he said another word, I was going to strangle him.

Christian's eyebrows rose; I'd never told him to shut up before. "You don't want to be left alone. This is just the darkness."

More fury and a new emotion—hatred—shot through me. For the first time in our relationship, I truly hated him. I couldn't stand the sight of him. "How dare you tell me what I want?" I hissed. I looked around and noticed that everyone had already left.

Christian was slowly coming towards me. "Lissa, please calm down." He pleaded. "This isn't you."

"Like hell it isn't," I spat. "Get out. I hate you, Christian Ozera. I never want to see you again." At that moment I meant every word I said. Looking stricken, Christian backed out of the room without another word.

When I was sure he was gone and wasn't coming back, I curled up into a ball again and started sobbing. Slowly, the anger and hatred I'd felt before drained away, leaving me in a state of horror and disbelief. I couldn't believe I had said those things to Christian. What I'd said about hating him… that was unforgivable. I would lose him. I was always losing the things closest to me. I cried harder into my pillow, crying for everything that I'd lost or would lose—my parents, Andre, Rose, a normal life, sanity, and now Christian.

"Lissa?" I looked up and saw Christian standing there, looking uncertain.

"Christian," I breathed, relief rushing through me. Even if he didn't forgive, he hadn't left. He'd come back.

I put my hands back so I could lean on them, but one of my hands slipped off the edge of the cot and I fell, cracking my head against the floor.

"Lissa! Are you…" Christian's voice trailed off and then the darkness swept me away.

**Ohhh! So Lissa's unconscious, idiot that she is, and Rose… well I can't tell you what's going to happen to her… It would spoil it ;)**

**Review? They make me deliriously happy… Even if you hated it…**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey hey hey! New chapter! Whoo!**

**Sorry for not updating … I was really sick (I'm all better now, which is weird…) and I just had one helluva day after I updated ch 19…**

**Thanks for all your reviews :D **

**NICOLE: Lmfao, I loved your review, it was awesome. I abuse caps lock all the times ;) And I am NOT a lemons writer. Sorry, but I'm young and lemons are NOT my thing.**

**Oh, there needs to be something you guys should know… School sucks right now. Like I have three tests EVERY SINGLE DAY this week, and tons of projects… Has anyone ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Anyways, so yea, I only have about ten words of the next chapter typed up, so I'm royally screwed…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy, just the stuff I make up, and this scarily twisted plot…**

**RPOV**

_Previously…. _

"_Mason!" _

"Rose! What the hell?" Mason stared at me, open-mouthed. "Oh, this is bad." He started pacing.

"Bad? What's going on? Mason? Why am I here?" Dread was creeping up my spine. "Oh, God. _Please _tell me you called her here."

He turned toward me, panic written all over his face. "I didn't bring you here Rose."

I stared at him, uncomprehending. "Oh, fuck." Understatement of the century.

Suddenly, Mason was right in front of me, gripping my shoulders. "What is the last thing you remember?" He asked in a low, urgent voice.

I licked my lips nervously as I tried to recall everything that had happened. "I was… I was in pain. The pain was from—"I stopped and frowned, wondering why I couldn't remember why I'd been in pain. . Everything was hazy and distorted in my mind. I backtracked to the events that happened before the pain. "Uhm, I was a captive… Jasper's captive. He was torturing me for information about Lissa. And then… And then I pissed him off too much and was going to kill me. But the guardians must have shown up." I frowned, remembering the frantic shouts and noises I'd heard before the pain started. Oh, yes, I remembered the pain of my throat being torn out, but the hazy pain was a different Pain. It was more final somehow. I knew also that I hadn't died in that godawful warehouse. I'd been in a white room. I seized to that image and focused on it. Everything came flooding back.

"The anesthesia wore off in the middle of my surgery. The pain made me fidget and move. I must have done something because everyone was freaking out and then I passed out and now I'm here." I stopped. "Mason, you have to help me get back. I can't be dead."

He released me and stepped back, studying me closely. Alarmed by his sudden calmness, I blinked and moved back. He was panicking now, and there was a gleam of something almost like happiness and satisfaction in his face.

"Mason…?" I asked warily. He was kind of freaking me out.

"Rose… You don't have to go back." He said with a slight smile.

I quit biting my lip nervously and stared at him. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked incredue added almost desperately.

"Are you fucking crazy?" I gasped. "I couldn't stay here. Lissa needs me. And I can't leave—" I stopped abruptly, biting my lip. I'd been about to say I couldn't leave Dimitri, but that wasn't a subject I wanted to bring up with my ex-kinda boyfriend.

Something flashed in his eyes and I realized he knew about me and Dimitri. "I'm not crazy. Just dead," he said bitterly with a small laugh.

"Mason—"

"Don't, Rose," he interrupted. "Just don't. I don't want your excuses." The look he threw my way was full of pain and longing.

"Mason, I'm so sorry," I whispered brokenly.

"Sorry for what exactly? Sorry that you broke my heart? That you used me? That I'm dead?" His voice was rising and he was yelling now. " 'Sorry' doesn't fix anything! I love you! And you were just using me!"

"I wanted to love you, Mase. I didn't want to hurt you." I said desperately.

"Well, I did. You knew how I felt about you and you didn't return my feelings, and you still let me believe you liked me. What, did someone dare you to pretend to like me? Did you and your friends have a good laugh about me, the poor clueless sap, after my funeral?"

"What? I-No! Mason, you were one of my closest friends!" I cried. "I cried for hours, days after you died! I cared about you!"

"You didn't care. You let me die. You didn't love me, didn't even give me a fair shot." Mason let out a humorless laugh. "I had to die to get your attention."

Something snapped inside me. I strode over to Mason and got in his face. "I may not love you like you want me to, but don't you dare _ever _accuse me of not caring. You're like my brother. I tried to warn you, I told you to leave me. You made the goddamned decision to go back, I didn't make you," I snarled. As I said the words, I realized they were true. The guilt I felt, the thoughts that had plagued me about causing his death were unjustified. Yes, there were things I could have done, but in the end he made the ultimate, fateful decision, one I didn't control.

Mason looked at me defiantly, but a little nervously, like he knew he'd gone too far.

"And just so you know, I was torn up with guilt about leading you on." I continued. "I was going to apologize to you and tell you there'd never been anything between us, but you had to freak out and go to Spokane! So I had to go down there and try to get you to see sense!" I turned away from him, too angry to speak. I knew I'd been horrible to him, but I didn't deserve being blamed for his death by him, and certainly not in such an angry manner. I walked away from him.

"Rose! Where are you going?" Mason called after me. I didn't respond, didn't even turn around or acknowledge his words. "Rose? Rose! Hey, come back here!" He shouted. I growled quietly to myself.

Suddenly, Mason was right beside me, walking next to me without saying a word. I ignored his presence and stopped walking, jumping on the ground. Nothing. I circled around, looking everywhere. "What are you doing?" Mason asked cautiously.

"I'm looking for a way out since you won't help me," I replied shortly, stomping on the ground some more. I'd hoped to hear a hollow sound that would indicate a tunnel or cave, but everything sounded normal. Letting out a disappointed sigh, I resumed walking.

Mason grabbed my arm. "Hey, slow down Hathaway," he said quietly.

I glared at his hand. "Get your friggin hand off me while it's still attached to your body," I hissed.

He released me, but didn't move away from me. "Rose, I'm sorry okay?" Mason let out a frustrated sigh. "I know I was harsh and judgmental back there. You don't deserve that."

I stared at him for a long time. "I do care about you." I said softly

"I know. I don't know why I said you didn't. I was mad. Please don't be upset with me." Mason pleaded.

I hugged him. "I could never stay mad at you, Mase."

Slowly, almost hesitantly, his arms wrapped around me. We stayed like that for a few seconds before I pulled back.

"So will you help me now?" I asked.

He smiled at me, a wistful expression on his face. "Anything for you, Hathaway," he teased. "Lemme pull up the portal…" He was silent for a few seconds, his brow furrowed in concentration. A few seconds later, a shimmering black hole appeared in front of us.

"Thank you, Mason," I said happily. "We do all miss you, you know. Including me. I really am sorry for leading you on. Hurting you was never my intent."

Mason smiled, his eyes misty. "I know that now," he whispered. "Oh, Rose, I feel so at peace. I think I can leave now, permanently."

I blinked back tears. "That's great," I whispered back to him. Mason beamed at me, fading fast.

"Goodbye, Rosemarie Hathaway. I love you." And then he was gone forever.

"Goodbye, Mason Ashford. I'll miss you, always and forever," I said, voice thick with tears. I was happy for him, but at the same time it was hard to accept I'd never see him again. His own doubts and thoughts and questions surrounding his death and our relationship had kept him trapped here, but now he'd moved on and it was my turn.

With a deep breath, I walked forward, intending to walk through the hole. Instead, I slammed into something and stumbled back.

"What the hell?" I muttered, staring at the portal while touching my nose. Whatever had gotten in my way had bruised my nose.

Slowly, I reached my hand out. Right before it went through the black hole, my fingers hit something. I frowned and pushed at it; my hand didn't budge. It remained firmly flattened. It was like there was an invisible wall blocking me from leaving.

"You can't leave," someone from behind me spoke up. I spun around. There was a woman standing about ten yards away from me. She looked to be about 20, with long auburn hair and pale, Moroi-like skin.

I glared at her. "So I've noticed. Who are you and why the hell can't I leave?"

Still smiling, she took half a step forward. "I have no name, but I'm here for you Rosemarie. You can't leave because you died. Come with me. I'll take you to where you belong." She held out her hand.

Entranced suddenly by the mystical and haunting beauty of the field and the peaceful feeling that settled around it, and her words, I hesitantly twitched my hand up to meet hers, then paused.

"But… what about Lissa? She needs me," I thought about the side effects of spirit: the craziness, the low moods, the anger… There was no way that sweet, gentle Lissa could balance it by herself.

The woman's smile softened and I became even more drawn to her. But the urge to protect Lissa was still there, firmly engrained in my mind. "Young Vasilisa will be fine. She has many loving people surrounding her, and a bright future. There is no reason to worry about her. Take my hand. Come with me; you belong with us." As she spoke, I felt a feeling of utter peace come over me, and I knew that going with her was absolutely the right thing to do. Death seemed easy; accepting it was only right.

I smiled and reached for her hand, suddenly eager to leave everything behind.

**Hey people! So, first thing's first: that woman. She's no one in particular. Think of her as an angel, or the embodiment of death, if you will :) She's just there to try and ensure Rose doesn't escape death a third time.**

**Second thing: This will be the last book in my alternate universe, unless I miraculously come up with another idea to continue this story. BUT I did come up with a final twist and the ending to this story ;) So look forward to the next turn of this story! **

**We'll see some people reintroduced into the story shortly here, and there are some problems we need to deal with as best we can, right? **

**Last thing: I apologize for the cheesiness of this chapter, but I thought Mason deserved a happy ending and that Rose deserved to finally be at peace with Mason's death. **

**And now Imma go, and I feel sick again…**

**Reviews make me happy :D **


	21. Chapter 21

**I was going to do a LPOV for this chapter, but I decided it would be confusing if I did it in hers. So this chapter is in RPOV**

**NICOLE: Lol, I will continue this story :) Hah, I'm not as religious as the Alchemists, but I am religious… And thank you! If you were a man who wanted to make out with me, I would be ecstatic that you'd want to ;) (Yea, I'm weird) **

**MOLLY: The site is www(.)fictionpress(.)com It looks exactly like this site, only it's red :) Good luck. And lol, there's a reason she's the embodiment of death… SHE'S ALREADY DEAD :D Hahaha, no, I'll run out of ideas long before we reach 100 chapters. HI BACK!**

**Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing fanfiction if I owned VA… Speaking of which thank you guys for reviewing my awesomely pathetic story! They mean the world to me and I cherish every word!**

**Oh, and btw, this chapter is at the same time that Lissa hits her head and blacks out.**

**RPOV**

Just as I was about to take the woman's hand, there was a brilliant flash of light. Everything dimmed, and the wind whipped around us. Frightened, I pulled my hand back and covered my head. The woman yelled something, but I couldn't make it out. Suddenly, the wind stopped and abruptly everything was calm and serene again. I cautiously lifted my head.

"What the hell was that?" I exclaimed. Before the woman could respond, movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I whirled around and saw Lissa.

"Lissa!" I screamed. She looked up and I saw desperation and fear written all over her face. "I thought you said she was safe!" I yelled at the woman, panicked. "She's not safe! She's dead!"

"She isn't dead, Rosemarie, merely unconscious and under stress. Look, she's already fading from this plane." She nodded her head. I looked at Lissa; the woman was right. Lissa's form was shimmering and rapidly turning transparent. "Now, let's go. You don't belong with her. This in-between state you're in is only causing her stress. Once you leave, she can fully move on." Her voice was smooth and compelling. It pulled my subconscious mind to her and made me forget things.

I hesitated, staring at Lissa. She gave me another sad look, and that's when I made up my mind, breaking free of the woman's spell and the field's magnetic beauty.

"Sorry," I said, "but I love living too much to go right now." I threw myself at Lissa's almost invisible form, praying that holding on to her while her spirit made the journey back would work. Desperately, she reached for me, nearly gone.

"NO!" As I grasped Lissa's arm, the woman's inhuman screech made me turn to see her hurtling towards us. With the wind whipping her hair around and the expression on her face, she truly looked like a fallen angel, and again I had to wonder what her purpose was. Was she a guide for the lost souls, or the one who punished those who'd escaped death before? I flinched away from her and closed my eyes, terrified she'd drag me off Lissa and I'd be stuck here forever.

There was a rushing sound in my ears, and then I felt myself being sucked backwards. I opened my eyes to see the field rushing away from us, and then there was a blinding white light. It dazzled me, but I couldn't close my eyes. And then there was nothing but swirling darkness.

I groaned and opened my eyes to see a man peering down at me. I sneezed and frowned at him.

"Holy shit!" The man leapt back, a look of total astonishment on his face. "What the hell is going on? They told me you were dead!" I barely suppressed a grin, remembering that I had actually been dead.

"Well, obviously I'm not." I snapped. "So are you going to help me off this cart thing or not?"

He was still staring at me, mouth wide open. I sighed. "I guess not," I sat up, positioning myself to slide off. The man was still staring. I think he was in shock. Briefly, I contemplated saying something else, but decided that would probably not help him recover from the shock of seeing a dead person sit up and start talking.

I slid off the cold metal table and shrieked as pain shot up my leg. The man snapped out of his dazed stupor at my scream and lunged forward, catching me just before I did a face plant on the floor.

"Careful," he said, helping me back onto the table. "Your ankle is badly sprained. Putting any unnecessary pressure on it could really hurt."

"No shit, Sherlock." I growled at him. "I figured as much out. What else is wrong with me?" I asked as I did a quick assessment of my body. As expected, pretty much every part of me was bruised, and my left hand looked pretty mangled. I didn't even want to know what my neck and face looked like.

"You have a broken left arm, and you need surgery on your left hand. If you even want to gain back fifty percent of your strength in your hand, I suggest you do physical therapy for about 9 months after the cast is off. 9 months is a minimum time frame." He warned. "Also, you have some cracked ribs, bruises covering every inch of you, a few nasty cuts that we already cleaned up for you, a concussion, and strange markings on your neck, that vaguely resemble tooth marks from a wolf or something." Reaching for his stethoscope, he gestured at my chest. "May I…?"

"What—Oh, yea, sure" I pulled up my shirt, trying to hold in a gasp at the ugly purple bruises surrounding my stomach and ribcage.

He gave me a sympathetic smile and carefully placed his stethoscope on me, trying to avoid hurting me. I breathed evenly as he listened to my heart beating with a growing look of amazement on his face.

The man leaned back. "Amazing," he breathed. "You truly are alive again."

Sighing, I pulled down my shirt. "Yea, you didn't really think you were talking to a corpse or a ghost did you?" He flushed, looking down at his shoes. "Now, can I get out of here? There are places I have to be, and people I have to see." I thought of Lissa and Dimitri, and my heart sped up. It had been too long since I'd seen either one of them.

"Uh, hang on. There are a few calls I have to make. There are no protocols for a dead patient coming back to life after being dead for such a long time." He said with a nervous laugh.

I pointed to my ankle. "Where am I going to go?"

"Right. I'll see what is going on. This is madness!" He muttered.

I shrugged. "Ah, I'm used to dying."

The man blinked, taken aback. "You're-used to dying?"

"Used to what?" I asked innocently, hiding a smile at his confusion. Messing with humans was so much fun.

He shook his head at me and walked away, grabbing his phone. He opened it and dialed a number.

"Yea, this is Connor. So I've got an odd situation down here. The patient Rose Hathaway, e. 1207, is alive and coherent." He paused and I heard the sounds of someone yelling on the other line. "No, I'm not joking." He argued back. "I was having a conversation with her and—what?" I strained my ears, trying to hear what the person on the other end of the line was saying. "Right. Okay, yea. I'll bring her up for examination and ToSgJ (**I made that up, lol. Just pretend it means she needs surgery on her left hand, 'kay? :D). **Give me 10 minutes." Connor hung up.

"Well?" I asked expectantly. "Can I go soon? Or at least use the phone to call my friends and tell them I'm fine?"

Connor shrugged. "No can do. They want you up there ASAP. You need surgery on your hand now. Look, if you just cooperate, you'll get to see your friends sooner." He turned and started fiddling with the drawers and cabinets.

"Fine," I sighed. "Just sedate me and get it over with." I laid down and closed my eyes as he injected me with the anesthesia. Soon I was drifting away on blissful darkness.

**LPOV**

"Lissa? Honey, open your eyes." Christian's soft voice echoed in my ear. I opened my eyes, but shut them again almost immediately.

"It's too bright," I mumbled. Christian sighed and I heard the sounds of shuffling feet, and the light disappeared.

"Try opening them now," he advised. Slowly, I cracked one eye open. When the light didn't scorch my eyes, I opened the other one too. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked

I put a hand to my throbbing head. "I have a headache, but other than that, I'm fine." I frowned, recalling what had happened before I hit my head. "Why do you care?"

Christian frowned back. "Why wouldn't I care?"

"Well… Because I thought you hated me now." I answered cautiously. "After the things I said to you…"

Christian moved closer to me. "Lissa, I know it wasn't you. It was the darkness. If I thought you hated me, I wouldn't be here. Or with you."

I smiled slightly. His faith in me was astounding. "But how do you know?"

Christian blinked, hesitating. "What?"

"How do you know I don't feel that way?" I persisted. "For all you know, what I said could be true…" I trailed off, unsure why I was arguing with him.

Christian smiled and leaned over. He kissed me and my world exploded. It was passionate kiss, filled with longing and love and I never wanted it to end. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to lose myself and forget everything bad that was happening in my life.

He pulled back and chuckled slightly. "That's how I know, Liss. I love you, plain and simple."

I smiled up at him like a big idiot. "I love you too. What happened while I was unconscious? How's Rose?" I asked worriedly.

Christian's eyes filled with regret and disappointment. "She's still gone."

I stared at him. "Are you crazy? She's not dead. I know she isn't. Stop messing around."

"I'm not messing around… Remember? Her surgery? Something went wrong and they couldn't save her in time?" Christian asked gently, brushing my hair away from my face.

I recoiled. No. That wasn't right. She wasn't dead. I would know if she was dead. Something in my head was telling me she still existed. "No, Christian, I swear to God. She's not. I'd know if she was."

Christian got up and started pacing. "You wouldn't know Liss. You didn't know. It came as a complete shock to us all. This isn't some fantasy world where you get a feeling of deep loss as she dies! You didn't know!"

I opened my mouth to reply that, yes, indeed, I would know, when the door opened. Adrian sauntered in, looking shell-shocked. "Adrian?" I asked in confusion. "What the hell?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not drunk, are you?"

"Always assuming the worst, Cousin. No, I am not. There is no alcohol allowed in this building and I seem to have left my cigarettes at Court." He grimaced.

"Wow, you must be ready to shoot someone." Christian commented dryly. Adrian glared at him.

"I just came in here to tell you two to shut the hell up. Some people are trying to sleep in this place."

"Adrian, seriously?" I said. "You couldn't fall asleep unless you had a bottle of vodka in your hand."

"Well, that and the assistant Abe threatened just gave us a report."

I shot up immediately. "Well, what is it? How is Rose doing? Can we go see her yet?"

Christian threw up his hands. "She's been like this since she woke up. Denying Rose's death." I glared at him.

"She is alive now, you idiot. Didn't anybody tell you?" I asked. Why did people keep acting like she was dead. I knew she wasn't. She had been, but now she wasn't. What was so hard to believe about that?

"Actually, fire-crotch, she's right. That was the assistant's report. He said that she just sat up in the morgue. Nearly gave the coroner a heart attack. They ran some tests on her and she's completely and wholly alive. They were stunned—until I compelled them into forgetting she'd ever died." Christian was speechless as Adrian turned to me curiously. "But how did you know she was alive again?"

I frowned, immensely confused. "Well—I don't know… I just did."

Christian laughed. "God, you people are fucking crazy. Remind me why I hang out with you two?"

Adrian smiled. "Because you love her," he pointed to me, "and I make everyone joyful." He spun around with his hands outstretched. Yep. Definitely his spirit wackiness coming out.

Christian snorted. "Ivashkov, the only thing you make are cigarette butts and mistakes." I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Tears started streaming from my eyes and I couldn't seem to stop laughing. Christian started laughing too.

Adrian sighed. "Yes, haha. Very funny. Very clever. Like I haven't heard it before. If you were wondering, Rose wakes up in about two hours," he left. Abruptly, I stopped laughing.

My heart hammered in my chest. "Are you serious?" I shrieked. "In two hours, I get to see my best friend again?" I was excited, but also kind of nervous. There was no way to know if she remembered anything, because she wasn't awake, and hadn't been around lately. If she didn't remember, she was going to be one traumatized girl. I felt sick with anticipation, praying to myself that she remembered.

Sensing my feelings, Christian gripped my hand. "Everything will be fine," he said in a low voice. "She probably remembers."

"Probably," I agreed, then asked wryly, "but when has anything happened the way it should?" Christian had no answer to that so we sat in silence, his arm draped around my shoulder, both of us hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

**DPOV (While Lissa's unconscious)**

I thought things couldn't get worse. I was wrong. My hopes had been briefly ignited, only to come crashing down with no warning, leaving behind a shell of the person I had been. My despair was so deep I could hardly express it. I retreated within myself, stunned into a nonresponsive state. Surely, _surely_, the world had stopped spinning and life ceased to exist. Was it possible for a life where Rose's spirit no longer wandered? I certainly didn't think so.

"Dimitri? Dude, are you okay?" I heard Felix ask. A flicker of annoyance briefly crossed my mind. That was a stupid question.

"I am fine," I responded automatically. Felix bit his lip.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. You can talk to Serena now. I'm fine." I said with a robotic smile. I'd noticed the two of them talking with each other and even laughing at one point over the past few days. I could not let anyone see how much the pain was ripping me apart inside. My chest clenched and suddenly I couldn't breathe. Without waiting for Felix's response, I strode away, trying not to completely break down.

I found the bathroom relatively quickly and luckily there was no one else in it. I closed the door and locked it, ensuring nobody else could get in unless I wanted them to. Now knowing what else to do, I started pacing, my thoughts whirring.

I was furious with the world, with God—if there even was a god. I doubted His existence, for how could He have let such a horrible thing happen to us? We'd had everything worked out, and we'd been living in a fairytale. And then everything was horribly messed up. Roza wasn't my Roza anymore, she was stuck looking like Lissa and then I realized that I'd rather have her be Lissa because surely there was nothing worse than having the love of my life not know me. But now I know better. Now I know that there are worse things in life—and I hate myself for realizing it. Now nothing could hurt me because the worst had already happened to me. My love was dead, dead because I couldn't protect her. I broke the promise I'd made, to protect her and never hurt her. It was too much knowledge to deal with.

Shaking, I turned around and slammed my hand into one of the stall doors. It bent inward, and I noticed a giant, fist shaped dent. I smiled grimly to myself. Causing destruction to another person's property was soothing somehow, like I knew I wasn't the only one or thing that had been destroyed.

"Dimitri, come out of there!" That was Felix pounding on the door. I sighed and shook my head at the door, refusing to break my silence. "Come on! This is the only bathroom that's not gross near us and I really have to pee."

I let him in, refusing to look at him. As he came in, I left, unwilling to stick around and hear what he had to say about what I'd done to the door. I found a chair in the corner of the waiting room, away from everyone else, and sat in it, staring at nothing in particular.

Time passed, but I was unaware of it. Felix came over to me and tried to talk, but I brushed him off. Eventually, I became aware of someone shaking me and saying my name.

"Dimitri, come on. Listen to me," Felix said, sounding frustrated. "I know you can hear me."

I shook him off of me. "What?" I asked, annoyed. Couldn't I be left to grieve in peace?

"That assistant guy… He has news on Rose."

"What news could he possibly have, Felix? She's dead! What, does he want to tell us that they're fucking sorry and they're willing to pay for a coffin?" I shouted. How dare he come in here and tell me there was news on Rose? That was beyond cruel, to try to raise my hopes that I'd just been dreaming, and Rose was fine.

Felix backed away slightly, raising his hand. "No, he said she wasn't really dead. He said they must have made a mistake, because she's alive."

My heart stopped. "W-what? She's really alive?" I asked softly, not daring to believe it. It was too good to be true. I had to be dreaming.

Felix nodded, a smile breaking out on his face. "She's alive and well. Apparently she gave the guy crap about not letting her leave."

I laughed. That sounded like her. "Where is she?" I asked, feeling giddy.

"In surgery. She can see visitors in about two hours." Butterflies rose in my stomach. In just two hours, I would get to hold my Roza again. And this time, I promised to myself, I would never let go.

**Whew! Long chapter! Sooo, how was it? Crap? Great? Lemme know by pressing that little button down there and typing words :) **

**Ha, you guys who thought I killed off Rose… I'm no good at killing off characters… Last time I tried to kill someone off (It was Felix) I ended up sobbing and deleting it because I couldn't go through with it…**

**Anyways… Guess what next chapter is? That's right, the REUNION!**

**And sorry if you thought it was ridiculous Rose came back again… I just really wanted Mason to be happy.**

**The next chapter might take a while… School has been freaking ridiculous with all the homework I've been getting and then there's my recent health issues… My life is so screwed up atm. **


	22. Chapter 22

**I'd like to give a shout-out to MaggieChauvin, who PM'ed me with a GREAT idea after chapter 16 was posted, but I couldn't incorporate it until either this chapter or the next… Thanks Maggie!**

**And I still feel really weird, but I've got the next chapter about halfway written… Unfortunately, these next two days I won't have lots of time to write but I'll do my best.**

**NICOLE: Lmfao, no I did not know that… Now I have to visit that place and see if it really exists… Lol**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, and I never will. Deal with it. (Sorry, kinda cranky)**

**RPOV**

I opened my eyes groggily. Everything was blurry and my head hurt. I groaned and tried to sit up. Someone—a doctor maybe?—rushed over, gently pushing me back down.

"Careful. You're still sore from the surgery." The man said softly. "I'm Dr. Washoe.I was the one who did the surgery on your hand. It was in bad shape. You should go to physical therapy twice a week for the next few months so you can regain your strength in it. And your ribs are badly bruised, as is the rest of your body. You need to take it easy for a few months and recover."

I flopped my head against the pillows and sighed. Taking it easy was not an option. I was a guardian, not that Dr. Wa—whatever would know that. Maybe I could just have Lissa heal me when I saw her. "When can I get out of here, Doc? I have people to see and places to be."

He shook his head at me. "Young people are always on the move. Calm down, Rose. You'll be here for a while."

I eyed him suspiciously. "How the hell do you know my name?"

"Your, uh, father…" He checked his chart. "Abe Mazur. He told us your name. Actually, a few people who claim to know you are waiting outside."

"What?" I frowned, totally confused. What the hell was Abe doing here?

"Do you want me to let them in, and if you don't know them I can remove them?"

"Uh, yea, sure that'd be great." I sighed, wondering who could be working with Abe and hoping they wouldn't want to chat for long; I really wanted to go see Lissa.

The door swung open and my heart nearly stopped. "Dimitri?" I whispered, unbelieving. My eyes took in his features: His beautiful long brown hair, held in a ponytail, his tanned skin, and oh God, his _eyes. _His wonderful brown eyes that could make me do anything.

"Roza," he breathed. He crossed the room in two giant steps and crushed me to him. I frowned and tried to wriggle free. He released me, looking confused and hurt. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do," I responded. "I love you."

"Then why—"

"Comrade, I haven't actually _seen _you or anything for about a month and a half, and you come in here and you _hug me. _What the fuck is that?" I interrupted him, pouting.

He laughed, sounding relieved. "That's you Roza," I felt a thrill at hearing him call me Roza twice in the same ten minutes.

"Would you just shut up and kiss me already?" I asked impatiently. He laughed once more and then leaned down and kissed me hard. Not breaking the kiss, I sat up, ignoring the pain I felt, and wrapped my arms around him. Dimitri deepened the kiss, and all I could think about was him. My head was spinning and I was totally blissed out. That electric current that ran between us was sizzling and I loved every second of it.

"Oh, my God. Get a room you two!" someone complained. Dimitri leaned away from me, breathing hard. I was too, and I'm sure I must have looked like a dog had gone shit all over my face, but with the way he was looking at me, I felt like the most beautiful thing that had ever walked the earth. I saw Adrian standing in the doorway with his hand covering his eyes and grinned. I'd even missed him.

"Adrian, this is a room. And it just so happens to be mine." I told him. Dimitri chuckled and sat on the bed next to me. Adrian snorted.

"But little dhampir, you can't just lock yourself in a room with Dimitri, the rest of us want to see your beauteous face!" he complained, smiling.

"Beauteous? How many girls have you lured in with that word?" I snorted

"Numbers do not matter, only the fact that it worked." He replied. I rolled my eyes but held out my arms anyway.

"Gimme a hug Ivashkov," I said. Adrian hugged me hard.

"Life sucks without you little dhampir. Don't ever do that again," he whispered in my ear. I opened my mouth to respond, but soon realized that I couldn't breathe very well.

"Adrian—Ouch. Get—off," I choked out. Adrian backed away, looking sheepish. Dimitri looked at me worriedly. I shook my head at him. "I'm fine, Comrade. Just couldn't breathe."

Adrian opened his to say something but was interrupted by a small shriek.

"Rose?" All three of us turned our heads at the same time to see Lissa standing in the doorway, staring at me like she couldn't believe her eyes.

I grinned. "Hi, Liss." She smiled back at me, her eyes getting misty. "What's up?"

Slowly she walked over to me. "Oh, you know. Just talking to my best friend who came back from the dead quite a few times. The usual." She shrugged, and suddenly we were both crying and hugging. "Don't—ever—do—that—to—me—again!" Lissa hiccupped as she hugged me tighter.

I laughed weakly. "I'll try my best. I missed you Lissa." That was the understatement of the century.

"Hey, why is everybody crying? Isn't this meant to be a happy occasion?" I heard Christian ask. Lissa pulled back and stepped away, revealing Christian standing next to Adrian a few feet away. He was staring at me even as he asked the question.

I wiped away a few stray tears and asked, "What's wrong Ozera? You look like you're talking to a dead person." His shocked look vanished, to be replaced by his perpetual smirk.

"Very funny, Hathaway. Is making jokes about your death really appropriate?"

"Probably not, but I don't really care at this point." I shrugged. "So set anybody on fire lately?" I knew he hadn't, but I didn't feel like getting all mushy with fire-crotch right now.

Beside him, Adrian snorted. "Yea, she's definitely back. Hey, where are Felix and Serena? They should be here to celebrate this momentous occasion."

"Last I saw, they were talking in the waiting room. Felix was even laughing." Lissa said, her eyes wide.

Adrian weighed her words carefully. "So… By now, they'll probably be making out in the bathroom?" Lissa rolled her eyes. "okay, maybe not. I'll go get them."

Once he left the room, I turned to Lissa. "I thought Felix was dating that hateful Asya girl?" I asked, confused. "Or did they break up?"

"She… cheated on him. With like two or three different guys apparently." Dimitri told me, rubbing my back. I closed my eyes and sighed in contentment.

"Oh. Well, I never liked her. Serena's your other guardian right Lissa?" Lissa nodded. We sat in contented silence, me with my eyes closed. I opened them as the door opened.

Serena entered first, looking nervous, followed by a smirking Adrian, and Felix. Adrian smiled lazily. "Serena, this is your guarding partner, Rose Hathaway. She's a little less than charming so be careful around her."

"Funny, that's not what you said the first time we met." I retorted, recalling that night at the ski lodge where he'd first cornered me. Adrian only smirked.

"It's good to meet you Guardian Hathaway." Serena said softly, looking down.

"Call me Rose. You'll find we're very informal here." I grinned broadly at her. "You better be good, Serena, or I'll have to send you to the gym for training sessions with Dimitri."

Dimitri laughed and my heart leapt slightly at the sound. "I think I'll be too busy watching you, Roza," he teased.

Felix made his way forward to stand next to my bed. "So you're the infamous Rose Hathaway." He said, looking at me with a sparkle in his eyes.

"The one and only. Whatever these people have told you is probably not true." I grinned wickedly.

"Don't worry, it was all nice stuff." Felix assured me. My grin widened.

"Then it's definitely not true."

Felix laughed. "I can see why Dimitri fell for you. Beauty _and _sarcasm. A lethal combination. It's nice to finally officially meet you, Rose Hathaway." He held out his hand. I stared at it.

"Wait till I get out of this bed. I am not shaking my boyfriend's brother's hand. I will hug you." I stated. "Speaking of, when are we breaking out of here? Tonight? Or sooner?"

"You will stay in here until they discharge you." A new voice sounded from behind Felix. Felix's laughing grin slid off his face. Adrian sighed.

"And who are you to say anything about it, old man?" I asked Abe threateningly. "Pretty sure I could take you and your guardians any day."

Abe smirked. "I doubt that, little girl. You will stay here because I said so, and I have very powerful influences in the Moroi world."

"God, I just want to go back to court and prove to everyone that I am still alive." I rolled my eyes at him, squeezing Dimitri's hand comfortingly.

"Roza," Dimitri reprimanded. "Be nice. He helped save your life."

"Yea… I heard. But I want to know why." I turned to him curiously. "Why did my life matter to you so much?"

Abe chuckled softly. "Why is not important, Rose." Then, before I could respond, he left.

"Okay, what the hell is that guy's problem?" I asked. Adrian chuckled softly.

"I think I know."

We all stared at him incredulously. "How?" I asked after a few seconds of stunned silence.

Adrian looked around at us, frowning slightly. "Well… It's obvious. I suspected it as soon as I met him, and he recently confirmed it. But I might have been drunk and imagined the whole thing." He mused.

"Adrian, just shut the hell up and tell us what's wrong with Abe!" Christian said exasperated.

"That sentence doesn't make sense Fire-boy. How can I shut up and tell you what his deal is? But, fine. Abe is Rose's father." This was met by an even more stunned silence as I tried to absorb his words.

"You—you're joking right?" I asked finally.

"No, it makes sense," Lissa said thoughtfully. "I mean, he's Turkish, right? And we've always suspected your father was Turkish. He's got your sense of humor, too," she added dryly.

I frowned at her. "I'll ask Janine next time I see her. We are busting out of here tonight, aren't we?" I turned to Dimitri eagerly.

He opened his mouth, probably to reprimand me, but Felix beat him to it, grinning widely. "Oh hell yea."

**My apologies if you were disappointed by the reunion…**

**LMFAO! Sorry if this was a weird chapter, but I think I'm semi slap-happy and my friend just reminded me of a really funny conversation that we had about a year ago. 6 slap-happy girls in a hotel room together… Good times:**

**Me: Wow, that was awkward. It doesn't fit there…**

**Friends: THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!**

**People next door: SHUT UP! (They were actually in the same room as us, but the hotel rooms had two rooms… And they were really tired, not slap-happy and we were like screaming)**

**Me (whispering): Keep going! Let's get them really riled up!**

**Friend #1: … **

**Me: OMG that's what she said!**

**And then we all burst out laughing and another one of my friends had the stupidity to say: Oh, my GOD! By the time this night is over I'm going to have abs from the workout I'm getting!**

**Which of course just set us off again… Yea, it's a LOT funnier when you're slap-happy and absolutely ecstatic that some sexy hockey players just called your room to arrange a date because they noticed you waving at them.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hihihi :D **

**Thank you all for your AMAZZING reviews! They're what keep me going when I've lost inspiration.**

**So, like 5 or 6 people said they liked my AN last chapter… Thanks :) Yea, that was our ACTUAL conversation. I actually think one of them recorded it… **

**SHOUT-OUT to Kelsey-Short, because she wanted one, and her reviews are always so enthusiastic! THANKS KELSEY! 3**

**Ideas have been bouncing around my head lately… I have a million and one thoughts going all at the same time, and a lot of them are for new VA fanfictions after I finish this one and ITWH :D So far, only one of them has stuck enough for me to make a plotline for it… Soo, yea, now I have two fanfictions, maybe three to write after this. And an original story that I'll post on fictionpress . com if I ever get around to typing it.**

**Disclaimer: See… some other chapter. I'm too lazy to type it.**

**RPOV**

"Lissa, did you bring my clothes?" I asked as I ripped the IV out and peeled the tape off. She nodded and held them out.

"I got them at Wal-mart, so sorry if they don't fit," she said apologetically.

I shrugged. "It's fine. Anything is better than this godawful hospital gown. Seriously, nobody looks good in these things."

"You look great in anything, Rose. Or nothing," Adrian winked suggestively.

Dimitri took a menacing step forward. "Do not say things like that to my Roza," he growled.

I felt a small thrill as he said "my Roza". "Dimitri, just let the obnoxious ass be. He doesn't mean anything by it." I stood up on my tiptoes, trying not to wince. Moving was still painful for me as I was still sore from the surgery and Jasper's brutal treatment. I kissed Dimitri lightly on the lips. "I love you. Be back in a few minutes."

He grabbed my wrists. "You're still hurting." It wasn't a question. I pulled away from him, looking down.

"Dimitri, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"No. We shouldn't leave tonight. You still need to rest." Dimitri said, worry in his deep brown eyes.

I shook my head. "Hell no. I'm sick of hospitals and infirmaries. I just want to forget about everything and just… live."

Defeated, he sighed. "I don't like this Rose," he warned.

I smiled at him happily. "You don't have to like it, comrade."

"Don't call me that," he muttered, but as he turned away I saw him smiling slightly. Lissa followed me to the bathroom, not saying much. Curious, I tuned into her emotions. She was worried and excited, but also scared and upset.

"Lissa, what's wrong?" I asked her as I stepped into a stall and closed the door.

"Nothing," she said, too innocently. She hovered outside the door as I started changing, being as careful as I could.

"You can't fool me. I've got the bond, remember? Now what's wrong? Did you and Christian have a fight?" Even as I asked, I was flipping through her mind, looking for answers.

She was silent and I sensed her trying to put up her walls. _Stop doing that! _She said fiercely through the bond. I frowned and pulled out of her head.

"What the hell, Lissa? How did you know I was in your head?" She was silent, and I sensed her debating how much she could tell me. Unfortunately, her walls prevented me from delving any further. I finished buttoning up my shirt and stepped out. "Lissa, answer me."

She bit her lip. "I could feel you in my head." She whispered.

"What does that mean?"

"I—I don't know how to describe it. It's like I can feel your presence." Lissa looked at me helplessly. "I don't know what's happening to us, Rose! Am I really finally going crazy?"

I was silent. "No," I said finally. "It's not surprising that the bond is changing. In fact, it should be expected, I think. You brought me back to life three times for God's sake."

"Yea, but—" Lissa stopped and looked at me oddly. "Three times?"

"Yea… The car crash, when I was a Strigoi though I don't know if that counts, and the field." I looked at her oddly. "Don't you remember?"

"Field—What field?" Lissa blinked at me, obviously confused. With a start, I realized that Lissa really didn't remember the field. All she remembered was fighting with Christian, blacking out, and then waking up to Christian.

I opened my mouth to tell her, but something stopped me. "Never mind." I said quickly. "Is being able to feel me in your mind the only thing that's new to you with the bond?"

Lissa stared at me suspiciously, but dropped the whole field thing. "No," she said slowly. "Not that I've noticed… Maybe… Can I communicate with you, I wonder?"

"I dunno. Lemme try to send you a message." I closed my eyes, concentrating. _Lissa? Can you hear me?_ I thought. When I got no answer, I realized that I must look like a total retard. Blushing, I opened my eyes. "Did it work?"

"No. Try going into my head and talking to me." Lissa sighed, a small frown crossing her face. "But don't stay in my head for too long. It's not a comfortable feeling to have someone in your head."

I closed my eyes again and concentrated on the steady hum of Lissa's emotions, focusing on slipping inside her. _Lissa? Testing, 123, testing. Can you hear me?_

_Rose? Is that you? _Lissa's voice echoed around in my mind.

_You can actually hear me? That is so weird._ I said. _And you can only hear me when I'm in your head?_

_Yea, that's the only time._ Lissa nodded her head. _Can we talk out loud now? It's not painful to talk to you like this, but I really need to get used to the feeling of having someone probing around in my head. _

I pulled out of her head and sighed. "This is messed up." I looked at Lissa. "Does any of this make sense to you?"

Lissa shrugged. "Not at all. But then, nothing's made sense to me from the day all this crap started happening. When you were in my body and I couldn't control myself, I thought I was crazy. And then when that made a little bit of sense, you had to go and lose your memory. And now this." She sighed sadly, looking down at her hands. "I'm so lost."

"I think I have some explanations for you." I said, thinking back to how Lissa's parents had tried to give reasons for everything.

Lissa looked at me in wonder. "How can you possibly have an explanation for this? It's not a normal situation."

"They're not answers so much as scientific guesses. But they sound pretty logical to me. Being dead's done wonders for me."

"What?" Clearly Lissa had no idea what I was talking about. Why would she? I'd only been awake for a few hours, and much of that time had been spent eating or kissing Dimitri.

"Never mind. We need to get out of here before Abe comes back," I glanced nervously around the hospital room. "I don't care if he is my father, he's still a creep."

Lissa giggled. "If you say so Rose, but it makes complete sense to the rest of us that he's your father. "

"Of course it does," I muttered. "because I just scream mobster's daughter."

"You don't scream mobster's daughter; you scream danger, just like Abe. I always feel the slightest bit afraid of him."

"Just the slightest bit, huh?" I elbowed her lightly as we stepped back into the room.

"Good God! It took you two long enough! Jesus, you were in there for like five hours!" Christian exclaimed. "You do know we have to leave soon unless you want Abe to catch us?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "We're fine. There was just some stuff we had to take care of." I glanced at Lissa secretively, partly because I knew it would drive Christian crazy and partly because that's really what girls do. Exchange meaningful looks with each other when certain topics come up.

Dimitri slipped an arm around my waist. I leaned into, feeling the electric shock that always happened when we touched. "Is everything okay Rose?" he asked worriedly. I smiled happily. I'd really missed hearing the worry interlaced with that sexy Russian accent.

"Lissa's not pregnant, if that's what you're wondering." I replied snarkily, tilting my head back to look at him.

"Oh really?" he murmured. "Well that's good. How about you? Are you still feeling okay?" I hesitated slightly and saw the alarm flash briefly through his eyes.

"Comrade, how many times do I have to tell you? I will be perfectly fine." I said, standing on my toes. He looked down at me, obviously amused by my attempts to reach his lips.

"What are you doing?"

"You know damn well what I'm doing, and you better help me out." I said softly, straining up. He chuckled and leaned down, his lips crushing against mine. I relaxed and smiled into the kiss; I knew he'd give in.

"Get a room!" Felix complained. Serena, standing next to him, giggled. I broke away from Dimitri and glared at his little brother.

"We're leaving," Dimitri said quickly, preventing me from retorting. "Let's go."

He swept me off my feet and carried me bridal-style out the door.

"Umm, Dimitri? Not that I don't mind the free ride and all, but why are you carrying me?" I asked curiously.

"Because you're still sore and hurting, even if you won't admit it. You want to leave this hospital, then you better let me carry you." Dimitri said stubbornly. Biting the inside of my cheek, I barely kept back a laugh. Dimitri was such a big dork sometimes. But, hey, I wasn't complaining. I actually was really tired.

Lissa compelled the nurse on duty to fall asleep until we left the hospital building and forget that they were here tonight.

I felt my eyelids drooping as we tried to find our way out of the mazelike hospital. Slowly my eyelids drifted shut and I was asleep.

**So, yea, just a shortish chapter. Next chapter we have some excitement though! **

**Today, I discovered something weird about myself: I do not like it when I am either walking or standing and someone comes up to me on my left side and starts talking to me. I'm perfectly fine when I'm sitting and they're talking to me on my left side, or if they don't talk to me. But if you were to stand on my left side and talk to me for more than ten minutes, I'd probably punch you. People standing on the left side of me and talking makes me feel threatened. Weird, right?**

**To all my ITWH readers: I am working on the next chapter right now. I had some writer's block, but hopefully I can get the next chapter up tonight :D **

**Okay, so I am sooo sorry! I meant to put this up two days ago, but then my ankle got all screwed up and I COMPLETELY forgot this story existed! Forgive me? **


	24. Chapter 24

**What's this? An update? OhmyGod, she actually UPDATED? It's a miracle! **

**Are you guys ready for some excitement? **

**Just so you're all aware now: This is NOT the final twist. I have something maybe not so devious planned… It's not as good as Rose losing her memory or getting stuck in Lissa's head (I think). At least, it's more predictable than they were. It may not surprise a lot of you though… I dunno…**

**This chapter's drama wasn't supposed to happen, but when I started writing it, I remembered something from earlier and so this chapter is kind of an unscheduled, spur-of-the-moment thing… But it should all work out.**

**Thank you ALL for your reviews! You guys are the best people on the planet! And look for my pathetic excuse for not updating on the bottom.**

**RPOV **

"Roza, wake up," Dimitri whispered down at me. I moaned and shifted slightly in his arms, unwilling to open my eyes.

"Go 'way," I mumbled.

"Rose, wake up. Do I have to tickle you?" Lissa asked in a false motherly tone. My eyes shot open.

"Dimitri, do not let her NEAR me!" I shrieked. Ever since I was little and my teacher had used tickling as a way to get me to wake up and/or do what I'm told, the mere mention of being tickled will freak me out. Lissa giggled as I struggled to get out of Dimitri's arms and farther away from her. With a small laugh, he set me down.

Christian smirked at me. "You know what they say Rose: The early bird gets the worm."

A smile formed on my face. Pyro really shouldn't use those kinds of saying on me; I have a comeback for all of them. "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

"Oh, haha, that's soo fucking hilarious," Christian said sarcastically.

I smirked at him and then the nausea started. Grimacing, I held up my hand for everyone to be quiet. Dimitri eyed me worriedly.

"Shit," I murmured. There were Strigoi near us somewhere. Immediately, I crouched into a defensive stance, shifting to shield the Moroi. Dimitri, Felix, and Serena instantly copied me, pushing the Moroi behind them. I stared hard into the darkness, trying to spot movement.

"Roza," Dimitri glanced at me. "Where are they?" He knew. I could see it in his eyes that he knew I could sense Strigoi.

"I don't know," I frowned. "They're here, though. Somewhere."

Felix shot me a confused glance. "What—" Something shot out of the darkness and knocked Felix on the head. Lissa screamed, and Felix collapsed. Whatever had hit him disappeared back into the trees. Dimitri made a move to go to him, but I shook my head.

"No," I said. "Don't move." I glanced at Felix, who I could see was steadily breathing but unconscious. "Whoever it is, isn't out to get him—at least, not yet."

Something behind me rustled in the bushes. Instinctively, I whirled around, slashing through the bush with my foot. I hit nothing but twigs and leaves.

"Damn it," I growled. Something had been there a few seconds ago, I was sure of it.

"Left," Dimitri said briefly. I knew exactly what he meant. I swung out to the left of me, and had the satisfaction of hearing my fist connect with something.

"I found—Holy shit!" I barely had time to duck as the Strigoi jumped out at me. "Dimitri!" I cried, turning to see Christian in a vulnerable position.

Serena shifted slightly, putting herself in between him and the Strigoi. "Got it covered."

The Strigoi stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Dimitri made a slight sound. Surprised, I glanced at him. His face was hard and cold. Hatred shone clearly in his eyes. I barely even recognized him as the Dmitri that had been holding me so gently only minutes ago.

I saw his muscles tense, and before I could stop him, Dmitri leapt forward. There was none of his usual grace or strategic intent in the attack; it was fueled purely by anger and something I couldn't really understand, a desperation and hatred of a sort. I wondered if they knew each other.

The Strigoi merely looked amused as he saw Dimitri. He grinned maliciously and dodged Dimitri's attack easily. Without even pausing to shift into an offensive posture, Dimitri turned and swung at the Strigoi. It grabbed his hand, and I saw the amusement fade from his eyes. It was replaced by an intent look, predator stalking its prey.

My breath caught in my throat as the Strigoi grabbed Dimitri's arm and prevented him from staking him. They grappled for a few seconds, Dimitri trying to escape and find an opening to stake the Strigoi and the Strigoi just trying to force Dimitri back and for some sick reason enjoying the fight. Slowly, the Strigoi forced Dimitri back a few steps. He staggered but caught himself and continued trying to break free.

Moonlight shone for a brief second on the woods behind Dimitri, and my heart nearly stopped. Now I knew what the Strigoi was planning and it terrified me. I couldn't lose him, not now; I'd only just gotten back.

I twisted around to glance briefly at Serena. "Cover me," I said.

"Wait—You can't go in there!" Serena said startled, but it was too late, I was already sprinting forward ready to jump on the Strigoi's back.

Dimitri was forced another step back just as I prepared to launch myself at them. I screamed and jumped at the Strigoi's back without stopping to think of a tactic. All I could think about was distract the Strigoi so Dimitri could escape.

Before I could land on him, the Strigoi whipped around and grabbed me by my throat. I choked and tried to pry his hand off my throat. He loosened his grip but only slightly.

Dimitri broke loose and retreated closer to Serena and Lissa. He didn't look angry anymore, he looked wary like he was trying to remain calm.

"Please, stop." Dimitri said in a low voice. "She didn't do anything. Just—please, let her go." I struggled harder, desperate to get to him.

The Strigoi sneered. "I don't think so. I told you that I'd get to you, and she is the way to hurt you." That made me stop struggling for a second. Dimitri and the Strigoi knew each other? But how?

Dimitri cautiously took another step closer. "Don't hurt her." It killed me to see him beg for me.

"Dimitri—don't. Get Lissa and them out of here." I struggled to escape once more while pleading with my eyes with Dimitri.

Dimitri ignored me and took another step forward. "Let her go," he growled. "Or I will kill you."

The Strigoi tsked. "Not another step, Dimitri. Or I'll snap her pretty little neck." He chuckled softly, tightening his arm. Again, I had to struggle to breath.

"No!" Dimitri backed up slightly. "Don't—don't do this. She's not involved in anything. Rose didn't do anything to you! Don't hurt her!"

Impatiently, the Strigoi sighed. "Don't you realize? I don't care that she's done nothing personally to me. The fact that she means the world to you is incentive enough for me to harm her. I promised you I would steal your world just as you took mine, _son._"

I stopped breathing. _Son? _This was Dimitri's _dad? _I looked to Dimitri pleadingly. He met my eyes, shame clouding his face. He looked at me as if to say, _So now you know the truth about my family._ I met his shame-filled gaze with one of pure love. I wanted him to know I didn't care how sick and psychotic his family was, all that mattered to me was _him._

"Dad, let her go right now." Dimitri moved a step forward. Instinctively, his dad moved back a step too. I felt the earth sink beneath us, and my stomach shifted uneasily. I knew what lay behind us, and it was not a good situation to be in.

"Or what?" he taunted. "You'll kill me? It won't matter; she'll die before you can reach us anyway."

Felix's voice came through the darkness. "That's what you don't understand. You never have. Dimitri won't stop existing just because Rose isn't around. True love doesn't work that way. True love won't cause you to want to seek revenge. True love is getting through the pain because you know it's what they'd want. You live on, preserve their memories and never let go of them. _True love never fades." _ He appeared beside Dimitri, flipping the stake casually. "And that is something you'll never have."

What happened next happened very quickly. Dimitri's dad shifted his arms with a desperate snarl so he could easily snap my neck. At the same time, a small opening to his heart was revealed, and Felix threw the stake as hard as he could.

Their dad howled in pain as the stake dug into his chest. I could see that it wasn't going in far enough to pierce his heart. His grip on me had loosened quite a bit, and I took that as a chance to lunge forward and push the stake all the way in. He stumbled back, bringing me with him.

I pulled away just as the ground gave way beneath us, realizing my fear. We started slipping over the edge. Desperately, I wheeled my arms back, trying to stay balanced. The Strigoi leapt forward at me and knocked me out of the way of the falling edge. I stared, surprised. I'd thought he was dead; the stake should have pierced his heart. Then I saw that the stake had been knocked loose by something before it had had the chance to kill him.

The rest of the ground gave way, and it all, including Dimitri's father, plummeted to the ground. Then there was silence.

Dimitri rushed over to me. "Roza, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he asked, frantically examining me for any serious injuries.

I looked to the spot where I'd last seen the Strigoi. "No, I'm fine. Actually… I think he might have just _saved _me."

Felix knelt next to me. "Impossible." He disagreed. "He was just a heartless bastard. Nothing more, really. He didn't save you Rose."

"Yes… He did!" I insisted. "He knew that that cliff was there! Why do you think he was forcing Dimitri back? He was planning to push him down. There's no way Dimitri would have survived! When everything started falling, he pushed me onto the safe ground. Didn't you guys see it?"

Dimitri and Felix exchanged looks. "Roza, what we saw was both of you falling and then you escaping him just in time." Dimitri said, taking my hand.

I frowned at him, withdrawing my hand. I knew what had happened. They hadn't seen the look in their dad's eyes—desperation to get to me. And then, when I was safe, the approval. Unwittingly, they had gained their father's blessing.

"Can we go home now?" Lissa asked in a small voice from behind us.

I stood, wiping off as much dirt as I could from my clothes. "Home sounds real good right now," I smiled. "And there's a lot I need to fill you guys in on."

Adrian chuckled. "Ditto, little dhampir. You missed all the fun."

**So weird place to stop, but it's a chapter right? **

**TO ANYONE WHOSE STORIES I MAY READ AND REVIEW: I am soooo uber-sorry I haven't been reviewing! I seriously suck, I know! But I've been freakishly busy lately, and I haven't checked my email in about a week. But starting tomorrow, I promise I will go back to reviewing! **

**MY EXCUSES: There's the traditional, too-true excuse: School. I am taking ALL honors classes and one AP class. And I'm a freshman. I'm getting all A's but only because I spend so much time doing my homework each night. And I failed my first essay. Yea, I got an F on my first essay of the year for English. Sad, isn't it? **

**My other excuses: Drama, my health, family life, and computer issues. Let's start with the drama. So a guy asked me out and I said yes. But he had a girlfriend I didn't know about so she got all pissy and started spreading rumors about me. I got that taken care of, thank goodness. My health: it sucks. I have to be on a stupid diet and I hate it and I'm losing weight and I look anorexic and I miss real food. Plus, I just had an eye doctor appointment, and they want me to get this laser thingy done. On my EYE. Family life-I won't bore you with the specifics. Computer issues- the space button on my computer broke. So I took it in and they got it fixed, and when I went to type this chapter, I found out that somehow, they'd screwed up Word so I only had ONE FONT and it was a retarded font that automatically spaced things every three letters. And, of course, the only solution they could come up with was taking Word off my computer and then re-downloading it. But it seemed to work—for now. **

**So, yea, with all the shit going on in my life, it's a miracle THIS chapter got out. All that stuff above-that isn't even half of it. I left out major health issues (physical and mental) and my family problems and everyday drama. **

**To end this on a humorous note, though, here's a list that I found that was absolutely hilarious: **

**7 Things I Hate About Everyone:**

**1.** People who point at their wrist while asking for the time...I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my ass when I ask where the toilet is?

**2** People who are willing to get off their butt to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.

**3** When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Idiots!

**4** When people say while watching a film "Did you see that?" No Loser, I paid 12.00 to come to the cinema and stare at the floor.

**5** People who ask "Can I ask you a question?" Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?

**6** When people say "life is short". What the heck? Life is the longest thing anyone ever does! What can you do that's longer?

**7** When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?" If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?

**Haha, good times :) **

**Review? Don't slaughter me? :/ **


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